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LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 


CARDINAL  CIBBONS  AT  THE  PEAK  OF  HIS  LABORS 
From  a  photoyraph  taken  in  1891,  live  .,ears  after  his  elevation  to  the  Cardinnlate 


LIFE    OF 

CARDINAL    GIBBONS 

ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE 


BY 


ALLEN  SINCLAIR  WILL 

M.A.,    LITT.D.,    LL.D. 


Render  therefore  to  Caesar  the  things 
that  are  Caesar's  and  to  God  the  things 
that  are  God's.  Matthew  xxii,  2i. 


NEW  YORK 

E.  P.  BUTTON  &  COMPANY 

681  FIFTH  AVENUE 


Copyright,  1922, 
BY  E.  P.  BUTTON  &  COMPANY 


All  Rights  Reserved 


First  printing November,  1923 

Second  printing November,  jgza 


0,350. 


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Vrlntea  In  tbe  United  States  of  Amerloa 


a: 


TO 

THE   INSPIRER   OF    MY   LABORS 
THIS   BOOK   IS  DEDICATED 


PREFACE 

Cardinal  Gibbons,  in  an  address  at  the  elevation  of 
Archbishop  Farley  to  the  Cardinalate,  said:  "It  is  not 
the  Cardinal  that  ennobles  the  man;  it  is  the  man  that 
ennobles  the  Cardinal."  This  was  a  true  reflection  of 
the  spirit  in  which  he  exhibited  his  own  life  to  others. 
It  is  thus,  then,  that  I  must  attempt  to  depict  his  life  in 
order  to  be  faithful  to  the  task.  A  personality  such  as 
his  was  bound  to  take  a  range  as  wide  as  humanity  itself. 

This  was  the  spirit  of  Cardinal  Gibbons  when  he 
authorized  me  to  write  his  biography  in  1909.  He  was 
then  seventy-five  years  old.  In  the  conversation  on  that 
occasion,  he  related  the  story  of  the  artist  who  was  com- 
missioned to  paint  a  portrait  of  Cromwell  and  who  dis- 
played the  finished  picture  without  the  warts  which  dis- 
figured the  countenance  of  the  Lord  Protector.  The 
Cardinal  repeated  to  me  the  admonition  of  Cromwell 
to  the  artist:  "Paint  me  as  I  am,  warts  and  all";  and 
added  with  emphasis:  "That  is  what  I  wish  you  to  do 
for  me." 

He  never  altered  that  injunction.  I  was  amazed  at 
times,  in  the  course  of  my  long  association  with  him, 
that  he  did  not  do  so,  but  I  must  record  his  attitude  as 
it  was. 

At  the  interview  with  him  just  cited,  he  consented  to 
devote  a  part  of  each  day  when  necessary,  except  Satur- 
days and  Sundays  (subsequently,  Saturdays  were  also 
included),  to  telling  me  his  own  story  of  his  life  from 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

his  earliest  recollections  onward.  During  the  next  five 
years  I  was  very  actively  engaged  in  obtaining  material 
by  means  of  these  never-to-be-forgotten  conversations, 
and  in  supplementing  it  by  the  collection  of  other  perti- 
nent data  from  every  source  that  I  could  reach.  The 
Cardinal  gave  me  the  private  journal  which  he  had  kept 
since  1868,  the  existence  of  which,  he  told  me,  was  then 
unknown  to  anyone  else ;  and  I  had  full  access  to  the 
archives  of  the  Archdiocese  of  Baltimore,  containing  the 
ofBcial  records  of  his  administration,  and  many  of  his 
letters. 

After  five  years  I  had  completed  the  work  of  assem- 
bling the  greatest  mass  of  the  material  which  had  accu- 
mulated up  to  that  time.  He  survived  six  years  longer, 
and  I  continued  my  work  to  the  end. 

In  1911,  at  the  time  of  his  golden  jubilee  as  priest 
and  his  silver  jubilee  as  Cardinal,  he  gave  me  permission 
to  publish  a  volume  of  four  hundred  pages  containing 
such  biographical  material  as  it  was  proper  to  present 
then.  This  was  the  only  biography  of  him  which  ap- 
peared in  his  lifetime.  From  the  beginning  I  had  col- 
lected the  material  with  the  plan  of  telling  the  story 
fully  when  it  was  complete,  and  I  have  now  done  so,  the 
earlier  work  being  discarded  except  for  a  comparatively 
few  passages,  and  a  new,  greatly  enlarged,  and  final  one, 
written. 

Conscious  of  my  own  limitations  in  many  respects,  I 
have  recognized  no  limitation  in  my  effort  to  represent 
the  Cardinal  and  his  career  faithfully  and  fully. 

Allen  Sinclair  Will 


CONTENTS 

VOLUME  I 

CHAPTBR  PAGE 

I  Earliest  Years 1-21 

Cardinal  Gibbons  born  in  1834  within  the  parish  of  the 
Baltimore  Cathedral. — Life  of  his  parents  in  Ireland,  their 
first  home,  and  in  Baltimore. — The  city  of  his  birth  as  it  was 
in  1834. — His  recollections  of  a  visit  of  Andrew  Jackson  to 
Baltimore. — The  family  returns  to  Ireland  on  account  of  his 
father's  ill  health. — Early  schooling  of  the  future  Cardinal  at 
Ballinrobe. — His  talents  attract  marked  attention. — Develop- 
ment of  his  remarkable  memory. — Death  of  his  father. — His 
mother  returns  with  her  children  to  America,  settling  in  New 
Orleans. — James  becomes  a  grocer's  clerk  there. — Stricken 
with  yellow  fever,  and  recovers  after  a  long  illness. — Attend- 
ance at  a  Redemptorist  mission  causes  him  to  decide  to  enter 
the  priesthood. 

II  Student  Days  in  Maryland 22-42 

Difficulties  of  Gibbons'  journey  from  New  Orleans  to  St. 
Charles  College,  Maryland,  to  receive  classical  training  for 
the  priesthood. — The  rule  of  silence  at  St.  Charles. — His  high 
rank  in  classes. — Experiences  with  the  professor  of  Latin. — 
Fondness  for  pedestrianism  and  athletic  sports. — Estimates 
of  Gibbons  by  Ridgely  Dorsey  and  other  fellow  students. — 
A  vacation  letter  to  Dorsey  from  New  Orleans. — Graduation 
with  honor  at  St.  Charles  and  entrance  into  St.  Mary's  Semi- 
nary, Baltimore,  for  theological  studies. — A  severe  illness 
causes  his  preceptors  to  doubt  that  he  can  continue  at  the 
Seminary. — Appointed  master  of  philosophical  discussions  in 
class. — Father  Dissez's  reminiscences  of  him  as  a  student. — 
Ordained  to  the  priesthood  in  the  Baltimore  Cathedral  as  the 
Civil  War  was  beginning. 

III  An  Adventurous  Pastorate 43-62 

Experiences  of  Gibbons  during  six  weeks  as  assistant  pastor 
of  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Baltimore.— Pastor  of  St.  Bridget's, 
in  what  was  then  a  suburb,  during  the  war.— Volunteer  chap- 
lain at  Forts  McHenry  and  Marshall.— His  reminiscences  of 
war  divisions  in  Maryland. — He  adheres  to  the  Union  cause 
but  takes  no  part  in  the  controversy. — Takes  charge  of  St. 
Lawrence's  Church  also.— Hardships  and  labors  gravely 
undermine  his  health.— Interest  in  saving  Embert,  a  Con- 
federate prisoner,  from  hanging.— Exhibitions  of  personal 
courage    during    his    pastorate. — Prophetic    sermon    in    St. 

is 


3t  CONTENTS 

CHAPTES  fAGB 

Joseph's  Church  on  the  night  of  Lincoln's  assassination.— 
Takes  part  in  a  procession  escorting  Lincoln's  body. 

IV  The  Path  of  Promotion 63-81 

Appointed  secretary  to  Archbishop  Spalding.— His  doubts  on 
accepting  and  his  decision  to  obey  the  call  of  duty. — Close 
personal  ties  with  the  Archbishop. — Anecdotes  of  their  asso- 
ciation.—Assistant  Chancellor  of  the  Second  Plenary  Council 
of  Baltimore. — His  rapid  development  while  dealing  with  the 
large  affairs  of  the  Council. — His  personality  at  that  period. — 
Appointed  Vicar  Apostolic  of  North  Carolina  at  the  age  of  32 
years. — Oppressed  by  a  sense  of  the  responsibility  and  hesi- 
tates before  accepting. — Organizes  first  Sunday  school  at  the 
Baltimore  Cathedral. — Shares  actively  in  parish  work. 

V  North  Carouna  Mission  Labors 82-115 

Gibbons  elevated  as  Bishop  of  the  titular  See  of  Adramyttum. 
— Youngest  bishop  in  the  world. — Difficulties  of  his  task  in 
North  Carolina,  where  there  were  then  only  800  Catholics. — ■ 
Christian  Reid's  impressions  of  him  at  that  time. — Installed 
at  Wilmington. — Contact  with  the  "carpet  bag"  regime. — 
Arduous  missionary  journeys  throughout  the  State. — Preaches 
in  Protestant  churches  and  in  Court  Houses  where  Catholic 
churches  are  lacking. — His  appeals  bear  fruit  in  many  con- 
versions.— Extracts  from  his  journal  on  his  experiences  in 
North  Carolina. — Efforts  to  overcome  hostility  to  the  Catho- 
lic Church  broaden  and  develop  him. — Highly  esteemed  by 
Protestants. 

VI  Youngest  in  the  Vatican  Council C16-139 

Summoned  from  North  Carolina  to  sit  in  the  Vatican  Council, 
of  which  he  was  the  youngest  member. — His  first  view  of 
Rome. — Stimulating  experiences  of  a  General  Council  of  the 
Church. — The  question  of  the  infallible  teaching  office  of  the 
Roman  Pontiffs. — American  acceptance  of  the  doctrine  but 
opposition  to  its  formal  definition  as  inopportune. — Extract 
from  Gibbons'  diary  of  the  Vatican  Council. — He  votes  for 
the  definition  when  the  question  is  finally  presented. — His 
impressions  of  the  chief  personalities  in  the  Council. — Inspira- 
tion in  Rome  for  his  future  work. 

VII  Bishop  of  Richmond 140-164 

Appointed  to  the  See  of  Richmond  in  1872. — Ripening  talents 
discerned  by  his  superiors. — Traits  of  leader.ship  as  shown  at 
that  period  in  his  life. — Post-bellum  poverty  in  Virginia. — 
Episcopal  journeys  and  rapid  growth  of  the  Church  in  the 
diocese. — Repulse  of  a  night  foray  by  a  robber. — Preaches  at 
the  consecration  of  the  Baltimore  Cathedral. — Comment  on 
the  appointment  of  Archbishop  McCloskey  as  the  first 
American   Cardinal. — Attack  on   President  Grant's  plan  for 


CONTENTS 


XI 


CHAPTER  pjyai 

federal  supervision  of  education. — Frequent  calls  to  assist 
Archbishop  Bayley  in  Baltimore. 

VIII  Archbishop  of  Baltimoee 165-187 

Friendship  between  Archbishop  Bayley  and  Bishop  Gibbons.— 
Letters  exchanged  by  them. — Bayley  invites  Gibbons  to  accept 
nomination  as  coadjutor  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  with  the 
right  of  succession. — Gibbons  shows  reluctance,  on  the  ground 
that  he  lacks  general  capacity  and  physical  strength. — Pre- 
vailed upon  to  accept. — Appointed  titular  Archbishop  of 
Janopolis. — Succeeds  to  the  See  of  Baltimore  at  the  death  of 
Bayley  in  October,  1877. — Begins  administration  of  the  diocese 
with  vigor. — Interest  in  wayward  boys. — His  sermons  at  the 
Cathedral  attract  many  non-Catholics. — Invested  with  the  last 
pallium  bestowed  by  Pius  IX. 

IX  Pkelate  of  the  People 188-199 

Gibbons  becomes  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  general  activities 
of  Baltimore. — His  cooperation  with  non-Catholics  in  civic 
and  benevolent  work. — Large  acquaintance  in  his  native  city 
and  remarkable  memory  for  names  and  faces. — His  aim  to 
dispel  prejudice  against  Catholics. — Judgment  of  men  in 
filling  ecclesiastical  posts. — Influence  on  training  a  native 
American  priesthood. — Episcopal  journeys  in  Southern  Mary- 
land, where  the  Catholic  faith  was  first  planted  in  English 
speaking  America. 

X  Broadening  Public  Life 200-219 

Gibbons'  diocesan  visits  to  Washington  and  his  natural  incli-  5 
nations  lead  him  into  the  current  of  national  affairs. — Visit 
to  President  Hayes  in  behalf  of  the  Catholic  Indians. —  ^ 
Accepts  invitations  to  dinner  at  which  he  meets  leaders  in 
Washington  life. — Entries  in  his  journal  show  his  widening 
scope  in  these  directions. — Issues  a  letter  to  the  clergy 
expressing  horror  at  the  attack  on  President  Garfield  and 
directing  prayers  for  the  President's  recovery. — Helps  in 
establishing  the  national  observance  of  Thanksgiving  Day. — 
His  first  visit  to  Leo  XIII. — Their  community  of  ideas.— 
Death  of  Gibbons'  mother. — Relations  with  James  G.  Blaine. — 
Sermon  on  the  anarchist  riots  in  Chicago. 

XI  The  Versatile  Reach 220-233 

Archbishop  Gibbons'  public  services  increase  in  range. — His 
help  welcomed  by  Catholics  and  non-Catholics  alike  in  many 
undertakings. — Daily  walks  on  the  streets  of  Baltimore. — 
Reminiscences  of  students  whom  he  invited  to  accompany 
him  on  these  excursions. — His  vote  cast  in  every  election. — 
Fondness  for  reading  United  States  history  and  civics. — In- 
cessant labors. — Daily  life  and  care  of  his  health. — Reception 
of  visitors  at  the  archiepiscopal  residence  without  ceremony. 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XII  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore  ......  234-253 

Leo  XIII  consults  the  American  Bishops  on  the  holding  of  a 
Plenary  Council. — Gibbons  opposes  it  at  first,  fearing  revival 
of  intolerant  attacks  against  the  Catholic  faith. — Western 
Bishops  favor  a  council  and  Leo  decides  to  convoke  it, 
appointing  Gibbons  to  preside  over  it  as  Apostolic  Delegate. — 
Gibbons  spends  many  months  in  preparation,  aiming  to  shape 
the  council's  work  so  that  it  might  be  permanent  and  might 
make  clear  the  position  of  the  Catholic  Church  as  a  supporter  ^ 
of  American  institutions. — Protest  against  the  seizure  of  the 
American  College  in  Rome  by  the  Italian  government. — Italy 
restores  the  college. — Gibbons'  skill  as  a  presiding  officer  in 
the  Council. — Vision  shown  in  its  decrees. — Pastoral  letter 
issued  at  its  close  defines  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  and  her  unwavering  sup- 
port of  the  civil  institutions  of  the  country. 

XIII  Birth  of  the  Catholic  University 254-267 

Influence  of  Gibbons  on  the  large  educational  projects  of  the 
Third  Plenary  Council. — Decision  to  found  the  Catholic  Uni- 
versity of  America  as  the  pinnacle  of  the  system. — Bishop 
Spalding's  work  for  the  University. — Gibbons  becomes  the 
first  head  of  its  Board  of  Trustees. — Causes  of  his  interest  in 
the  University  and  his  intense  zeal  for  it  during  a  long  period 
of  years.— Declarations  of  the  Council  on  the  training  of 
priests  and  on  Christian  education. — It  exhorts  attendance  at 
parochial  schools  but  refuses  to  condemn  the  public  schools. 

XIV  The  Question  of  Secret  Societies 268-276 

Declarations  of  the  Third  Plenary  Council  on  secret  societies. 
—Opposed  as  instruments  or  possible  instruments  for  work- 
ing against  religion  and  general  welfare. — Warning  against 
sweeping  promises  of  obedience  to  the  decisions  of  heads  of 
such  societies. — Catholics  urged  to  conform  strictly  to  the 
Church's  guidance  in  regard  to  them. — Other  acts  of  the 
Council. — The  system  of  irremovable  rectors  established  in 
the  United  States. — Gibbons'  address  at  the  closing  session. — 
Leo  XIII  commends  the  work  of  the  Council,  which  serves 
as  a  model  for  similar  gatherings  convoked  subsequently. 

XV  Elevated  to  the  Cardinalate  , 277-295 

Dawn  of  a  period  of  unexampled  growth  for  the  Catholic 
Church  in  America. — Gibbons  the  leader  in  the  advance. — 
Death  of  Cardinal  McCloskey  followed  by  marked  expressions 
of  a  national  desire  that  Gibbons  be  elevated  to  the  Sacred 
College. — Leo  XIII  decides  to  appoint  him. — Entries  in  his 
journal  show  the  humility  with  which  he  received  the  news  of  D 
his  appointment. — Baltimore  prepares  for  a  fete  in  honor  of 
his  elevation. — A  messenger  hurries  from  Rome  bearing  the 
red  biretta  in  order  that  Gibbons  may  be  invested  with  it 


ij 


CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER  PACB 

June  30,  1886,  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  his  ordination 
to  the  priesthood.— Large  gathering  of  the  hierarchy  at  the 
ceremony. — Public  parades  and  reception  of  delegations. — 
Non-Catholics  throughout  the  country  hail  the  appointment,    r" 

XVI  Setting  the  Larger  Task 296-305 

Gibbons'  views  of  the  opportunities  of  the  Cardinalate  for 
general  service. — He  takes  counsel  with  leaders  in  the  Church 
and  in  civil  life  and  formulates  a  program  of  definite  aims. — 
Reliance  upon  the  support  of  Leo  XIIL — Desire  that  the 
Church  should  adapt  herself  to  the  fullest  extent  to  the 
American  democracy. — StiHing  of  intolerance  necessary  to  the 
large  development  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States  which 
he  planned. — Fostering  of  popular  education  as  a  means  of 
guiding  the  development  of  democracy. — Interests  of  labor 
to  be  defended  in  order  that  economic  conditions  might  enable 
men  to  prepare  for  the  duties  of  citizenship. — Resistance  to 
radicalism. — Gibbons  determines  to  embark  upon  all  of  his 
large  tasks  at  once. 

XVII  Speech  in  Rome  on  Church  and  State 306-319 

Journey  to  Rorne  to  receive  the  red  hat. — Cardinal  Gibbons 
installed  in  his  titular  church  of  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere. — 
He  marks  that  occasion  by  delivering  an  address  on  the  rela- 
tions of  Church  and  State  in  the  United  States. — Declares 
that  the  great  growth  of  the  Church  in  the  American  republic 
has  been  due,  under  God  and  the  fostering  vigilance  of  the 
Holy  See,  to  civil  liberty;  that  the  government  protects  the 
Church  in  America  without  interfering  with  her,  and  that 
"our  country  has  liberty  without  license  and  authority  with- 
out despotism." — Bases  his  remarks  upon  Leo  XIII's  encyc- 
lical on  the  constitution  of  Christian  states. — His  declaration 
startles  many  Europeans,  Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics, 
because  it  combats  the  view  that  separation  means  antagonism 
by  the  State  to  the  Church, 

XVIII  Defense  of  Organized  Labor 320-334 

Sudden  rise  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  in  America. — Condemned 
by  the  hierarchy  of  Canada  as  a  secret  society  working 
against  religion. — Gibbons  summons  Powderly,  the  head  of 
the  order,  to  Baltimore,  and  confers  with  him  on  the  methods 
of  the  organization. — Convokes  the  Archbishops,  whom  he 
convinces  that  the  secrecy  of  the  order  is  not  complete  and 
that  it  does  not  prevent  the  manifestation  of  everything  con- 
cerning the  Knights  to  ecclesiastical  authority;  that  to  con- 
demn it  in  the  United  States  would  be  a  blow  to  the  strug- 
gling poor. — They  recommend  to  Rome  that  the  order  be  not 
forbidden. — Gibbons  confers  with  President  Cleveland  on  the 
question  and  finds  Cardinal  Manning  in  sympathy  with  him. — 
Wages  a  personal  campaign  in  Rome  in  behalf  of  the  Knights 
when  he  goes  there  to  receive  the  red  hat. 


xlv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTEK  PAGB 

XIX  Memorable  Letter  to  Rome 335-352 

Cardinal  Gibbons  addresses  to  Cardinal  Simeoni,  Prefect  of 
the  Propaganda,  for  presentation  to  the  Congregation  of  the 
Holy  Office,  a  powerful  plea  against  condemnation  of  the  / 
Knights  of  Labor  in  the  United  States. — Declares  that  an  ^ 
attempt  to  crush  them  by  an  ecclesiastical  edict  would  be  rash 
and  would  endanger  the  position  of  the  Church;  sets  forth 
the  wrongs  which  gave  rise  to  the  movement  of  labor  to 
organize  for  its  own  protection  and  urges  that  the  Church 
avoid  any  act  that  would  seem  to  obstruct  a  settlement  by 
natural  evolution;  predicts  the  gradual  decline  of  the  Knights 
without  condemnation. 

XX  Victory  for  the  Knights  of  Labor 353-360 

Gibbons'  letter  turns  the  tide  of  opinion  at  Rome.'— A  copy  of 
it  is  surreptitiously  obtained  by  a  newspaper  and  published, 
with  the  result  that  Gibbons  receives  many  commendations 
from  the  United  States. — The  Congregation  of  the  Holy 
Office  decides  not  to  forbid  the  organization  of  the  Knights  in 
America  and  lifts  the  ban  that  had  been  imposed  in  Canada. — 
Manning  congratulates  Gibbons  on  the  victory. — Leo  XHI 
confirms  the  stand  of  the  American  Cardinal  in  his  encyclical 
on  "The  Condition  of  Labor."— Gibbons'  personal  sympathy 
with  labor. — Archbishop  Ireland  hails  him  as  a  prophet. 

XXI  Henry  George  and  Dr.  McGlynn 361-378 

Condemnation  of  Henry  George's  book,  "Progress  and 
Poverty,"  proposed  at  Rome. — Gibbons  combats  the  proposal  ^ 
as  threatening  to  stifle  the  free  discussion  of  economic  evils. — 
Differences  from  Archbishop  Corrigan,  advocate  of  condem- 
nation.— Gibbons  addresses  an  appeal  against  condemnation 
to  Rome. — He  enlists  the  active  help  of  other  members  of  the 
American  Hierarchy,  who  also  write  to  Rome  opposing  con- 
demnation.— Corrigan's  effort  to  have  the  book  condemned 
fails. — Drs.  McGlynn  and  Burtsell,  New  York  priests,  become 
conspicuous  public  supporters  of  George. — Corrigan  deposes 
them  from  their  pastorates  when  they  fail  to  heed  his  admo- 
nitions.— Gibbons  regrets  their  resistance  to  the  Archbishop. 
— They  afterward  submit  to  discipline  and  their  functions 
are  restored. 

XXII  A  Triumphal  R'^tuhn  Home 379-395 

Gibbons'  health  impaired  by  his  arduous  work  in  Rome  in 
the  Spring  of  1887. — In  a  leisurely  trip  homeward  he  visits 
Manning  in  London. — Their  community  of  views  on  many 
questions  and  differences  in  their  personalities. — Gibbons 
visits  Mill  Hill  College  and  obtains  the  services  of  mission- 
aries for  work  among  negroes  in  America. — Acclaimed  as  a 
popular  hero  on  his  return  to  Baltimore  after  struggles  and 
victories. — Sermon    on    his    experiences    and     observations 


CONTENTS 


TV 


CHAPTBS 


PAOB 


abroad. — Offers  prayer  at  the  celebration  in  Philadelphia  of 
the  centennial  of  the  American  Constitution. — Honors  paid 
to  him  at  the  celebration. 

XXIII    The  Vision  of  the  West 396-407 

Journey  to  the  Pacific  coast  to  confer  the  pallium  on  Arch- 
bishop Gross  at  Portland,  Oregon. — Impressions  of  the  large 
opportunities  for  religion  and  material  development  in  the 
West,  which  he  had  never  visited  before. — The  opportunity 
of  the  Catholic  Church  to  fuse  the  foreign  elements  then 
beginning  to  crowd  into  that  part  of  the  country  and  adapt 
them  to  their  new  civic  life. — Honored  at  St.  Paul,  Helena, 
Portland,  Los  Angeles  and  elsewhere  as  an  exemplar  of 
patriotism  and  public  service  and  as  a  champion  of  labor. — 
Visits  New  Orleans  on  his  return  and  receives  tribute  at  a 
citizens'  reception  in  that  city. — Assists  a  movement  to  attract 
immigration  to  the  Southern  States. — Impressions  of  his  trip. 

XXrV    Relations  with  President  Cleveland 408-421 

Cardinal  Gibbons  requested  by  Mr.  Cleveland  to  convey  the 
President's  felicitations  to  Leo  XIII  in  honor  of  the  Pope's 
golden  jubilee  as  a  priest. — Visits  the  White  House  and  sug- 
gests that  a  bound  copy  of  the  American  Constitution  be  sent 
as  a  present. — Cleveland  accepts  the  suggestion  and  transmits 
a  handsomely  bound  copy  through  Gibbons. — Leo's  letter  of 
thanks  commending  the  protection  of  the  Catholic  Church 
in  the  American  democracy. — Gibbons'  correspondence  with 
Cleveland. — Their  personal  ties. — Cleveland  consults  him  on 
the  tariff  message  to  Congress  in  1888. — Their  conferences  on 
other  public  questions. — Gibbons  comments  in  a  Thanksgiving 
circular  on  tlie  stability  of  American  political  institutions. 

XXV  A  Century  of  Catholic  Advance 422-440 

Preparations  for  the  celebration  of  the  centennial  of  the 
American  Hierarchy. — Early  years  of  Gibbons'  cardinalate 
marked  by  unprecedented  growth  of  the  Church. — His  tribute 
to  John  Carroll,  the  first  American  Archbishop,  in  a  sermon. 
— Leo  XIII  sends  Archbishop  Satolli  as  Papal  Delegate  to  the 
celebration  in  Baltimore. — Great  gathering  of  the  hierarchy 
and  priesthood. — Sermons  by  Archbishops  Ryan  and  Ireland 
emphasize  the  civil  liberty  in  the  United  States  as  a  foimda- 
tion  for  the  Church's  progress  in  the  century  past  and  the 
cne  to  come. 

XXVI  A  Call  to  the  Laity— Higher  Education   ....  441-457 

Gibbons'  interest  in  enlisting  the  active  help  of  the  Catholic 
laity.— A  Congress  of  Laymen  called  to  mark  the  Hierarchy's 
centennial.— Gibbons  addresses  the  congress.— Resolutions 
adopted  affirming  the  adaptabilit>'  of  the  Church  to  American 
institutions,  condemning  socialism  and  communism  and  advo- 


xvi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTEK  PA8B 

eating  social  reforms. — The  Catholic  University  opened  in  the 
same  week  with  the  dedication  of  the  School  of  Sacred 
Sciences  in  the  presence  of  President  Harrison  and  a  dis- 
tinguished gathering. — Leo  XIII  sends  his  blessing. — Ad- 
dresses of  Cardinal  Gibbons  and  others. — Work  of  Bishop 
Keane,  the  University's  first  rector,  in  organizing  the  institu- 
tion.— Public  reception  to  prelates,  priests  and  laymen  by 
Mayor  Latrobe  of  Baltimore. 

XXVII  The  Coming  of  the  Papal  Delegate 45^-471 

Gibbons  consulted  by  Leo  XIII  on  the  question  of  sending  a 
permanent  Apostolic  Delegate  to  the  United  States. — He 
opposes  the  plan  on  the  ground  of  his  views  on  the  respective 
functions  of  Church  and  State. — The  decision  is  deferred  and 
at  length  the  plan  is  modified,  Satolli  being  sent  as  permanent 
Apostolic  Delegate  to  the  Church  in  America  without  diplo- 
matic status. — ^In  the  working  out  of  the  Delegate's  mission, 
Gibbons  finds  that  objection  is  removed. — Satolli's  tact  apd 
his  sympathy  with  American  institutions. — His  close  ties  with 
Gibbons. 

XXVIII  The  School  Question— Faribault  Plan  ....  472-496 

Discussion  of  the  question  of  parochial  and  public  schools 
becomes  acute. — Gibbons'  views  of  a  proper  public  school  in  ) 
which  religion  is  taught. — Pastoral  letter  on  education. — His 
opposition  to  a  project  for  a  union  of  Church  and  State 
schools  in  Maryland  as  untimely. — Archbishop  Ireland's  ex- 
periments in  the  schools  at  Faribault  and  Stillwater,  Minn., 
cause  widespread  controversy. — Gibbons  defends  Ireland. — 
He  summons  the  Archbishops  to  consider  the  question  and 
they  sustain  Ireland. — Leo  XIII  also  sustains  him. — Satolli,  at 
another  meeting  of  the  Archbishop,s,  outlines  fourteen 
propositions  for  the  working  out  of  the  educational  problem. 
— Gibbons'  help  to  schools  for  Indians. 

XXIX  Struggle  for  Americanism 497-5^6 

The  Cahensly  movement  for  preserving  the  nationalities  of 
foreigners  in  the  Church  in  America. — Gibbons  wages  one  of 
the  greatest  combats  of  his  life  in  opposition  to  it. — Appeal 
of  the  Cahenslyites  to  the  Holy  See. — Their  campaign  in 
Rome  excites  Gibbons'  alarm. — Demand  for  the  appointment 
of  Bishops  in  America  on  the  basis  of  nationality. — Gibbons' 
fears  of  the  development  of  permanent  foreign  influences  in 
the  country  which  would  disturb  the  unity  of  the  Church  and  j 
thwart  the  national  destiny. — Interview  with  him  in  the  ^ 
Frankfurter  Zcitung. —  Suspicions  of  foreign  political  ends  to 
be  served  under  the  guise  of  solicitude  for  the  spiritual  care 
of  immigrants. 


CONTENTS  xvii 

CHAPTER 


PAGE 


XXX  Fall  of  the  Cahensly  Cause S17-543 

Father  Abbelen  presents  the  views  of  the  American  Cahensly- 
ites  in  Rome. — His  pleas  disputed  by  Ireland  and  Keane  in 
sympathy  with  Gibbons'  attitude.— Warning  against  impeding 
the  conversion  of  Protestants. — Gibbons  consults  Archbishops 
Williams,  Ryan  and  Corrigan,  who  unite  in  a  letter  to  Rome 
replying  to  Abbelen's  contentions. — Denies  that  German 
Catholics  are  neglected  in  the  United  States. — A  vigorous 
letter  to  Archbishop  Elder.— Leo  condemns  Cahenslyism.— 
President  Harrison  felicitates  Gibbons  on  the  victory. — The  f) 
Cardinal  delivers  a  powerful  sermon  in  Milwaukee,  a  strong- 
hold of  Cahenslyism,  declaring  that  "God  and  Our  Country" 
should  be  the  watchword  of  all  in  America. — Bishop  Keane 
displaced  as  rector  of  the  Catholic  University. — Temporary 
rise  of  anti-Catholic  organizations. 

XXXI  Interpretations  of  Father  Hecker S44-S59 

The  question  of  Americanism  in  the  Church  involved  in  the 
discussion  caused  by  the  publication  of  the  "Life  of  Father 
Hecker." — Relations  of  Gibbons  and  Hecker. — Views  of 
Hecker  on  individual  action  within  the  limits  defxned  by  the 
Church  are  misinterpreted  in  versions  of  writings  about  him 
as  circulated  in  Europe. — Archbishop  Ireland's  commendation 
of  him. — Foreign  assertions  that  American  Catholics  accept 
unsound  doctrines  are  vigorously  denied. — Leo  XIII  settles 
the  controversy  by  his  letter  on  "Americanism"  addressed  to 
Gibbons,  reproving  some  views  attributed  to  Hecker  as  ex- 
pressed in  foreign  interpretations. — Gibbons  replies  thanking 
the  Pope  for  "dispelling  the  cloud  of  misunderstanding." 

XXXII  Columbian  Fetes— Paruament  of  Religions     .     .  560-584 

Gibbons'  participation  in  the  celebration  of  the  four  htmdredth 
anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  America. — Pastoral  letter  on 
Columbus  and  the  gain  to  the  world  by  the  addition  of 
America  to  the  domain  of  civilization. — Celebrations  in  Balti- 
more.—Gibbons  offers  prayer  at  the  dedication  of  the  World's 
Fair  in  Chicago. — He  favors  Catholic  participation  in  the 
Parliament  of  Religions  at  Chicago.— His  address  to  the 
Parliament  on  the  services  of  the  Catholic  Church  to 
humanity. — His  views  on  Christian  unity. — Visit  to  Rome  and 
conferences  with  Leo  XIII. — His  part  in  causing  America  to 
be  understood  abroad. — Receives  another  public  welcome  on 
his  return  to  Baltimore. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


VOLUME  I 

Cover  Design 

Bas-relief  portrait  of  Cardinal  Gibbons,  from  the  medal  by 
J.  Maxwell  Miller,  executed  in  191 1. 

Frontispiece 

Cardinal  Gibbons  at  the  age  of  83  years. 

FACING  PAGE 

Where  Gibbons  Served  His  Only  Pastorate 47 

St.  Bridget's  Church,  Baltimore,  in  1865, 

Gibbons  as  a  Priest  in  1866 71 

Father  Gibbons  standing;  the  Very  Rev.  Henry  B.  Coskery 
seated. 

Gibbons  as  the  Youngest  Bishop 83 

From  a  photograph  taken  soon  after  he  became  Vicar  Apos- 
tolic of  North  Carolina. 

Gibbons  as  Bishop  of  Richmond 140 

Old  St.  Peter's  Cathedral  and  Bishop's  Residence,  Richmond, 
Va.,  in  1876 162 

Cathedral  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
Baltimore 184 

Interior  of  Cardinal  Gibbons'  Titular  Chlt?ch  in  Rome  .     ,    >    307 
The  Church  of  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere. 

Cardinal  Gibbons  at  the  Peak  of  His  Labors 473 

From  a  photograph  taken  in  1891,  five  years  after  his  eleva- 
tion to  the  Cardinaiate. 


LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 


LIFE    OF 
CARDINAL    GIBBONS 


CHAPTER  I 
EARLIEST  YEARS 

By  a  rare  fortuity,  the  birthplace  of  James  Gibbons 
was  within  the  parish  of  the  Cathedral  in  which  he 
towered  for  more  than  a  third  of  a  century  as  a  great 
captain  of  the  Christian  faith.  His  early  memories  were 
linked  closely  with  the  tall  Ionic  columns  of  that  build- 
ing, set  on  a  bold  hill  in  downtown  Baltimore,  and  with 
the  singularly  sweet  tones  of  its  bells,  which  flooded  the 
neighborhood  daily  with  the  harmony  of  their  summons 
to  worship.  He  passed  its  portals  first  when  he  was  car- 
ried there  to  be  baptized. 

A  scant  nine  hundred  yards  of  sloping  streets  sepa- 
rated the  Cathedral  from  the  dwelling  on  the  west  side  of 
Gay  Street,  a  short  distance  north  of  Fayette  Street, 
where  he  was  born  July  23,  1834.  ^^^  parents,  Thomas 
and  Bridget  Gibbons,  had  then  lately  come  from  Ireland, 
borne  on  the  tide  of  pre-famine  emigration.  They  were 
of  small-farmer  stock  and  there  is  abundant  evidence 
that    they    were    intelligent,    industrious    and    thrifty. 


2  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Their  family  life  appears  to  have  been  exemplary.  They 
had  remained  staunch  Catholics  in  their  youth  despite 
repressive  laws  against  which  the  voice  of  Daniel 
O'Connell  was  then  ringing  in  protest. 

Thomas  Gibbons  was  born  in  1800,  and  grew  up  near 
Westport,  County  Mayo,  on  the  western  coast  of  Ire- 
land, almost  under  the  shadow  of  Croagh  Patrick,  the 
mystic  peak  in  whose  purple  solitudes  Ireland's  patron 
saint,  according  to  revered  tradition,  meditated.  There 
he  married  Bridget  Walsh,  three  years  younger  than 
himself,  the  daughter  of  James  Walsh,  a  neighboring 
farmer  of  scholarly  tastes.  The  husband's  life  was 
marked  by  a  protracted  struggle  against  ill-health,  and 
he  died  at  forty-seven  years  of  age.  The  wife  was 
strong,  energetic,  dauntless  of  spirit,  and  survived  to  the 
age  of  eighty-three.  Her  courage  and  force  of  character 
were  blended  with  piety  in  a  combination  of  traits  which 
were  reflected  in  her  gifted  son. 

When  the  young  couple  resolved  to  leave  Ireland,  they 
intended  to  plant  a  new  home  in  Canada.  Embarking 
in  a  sailing  ship,  they  arrived  at  their  destination  after  a 
voyage  of  many  weeks.  The  northern  climate  was  too 
severe  for  them,  and  after  a  brief  stay  in  Canada  they 
resumed  their  wanderings,  settling  in  Baltimore  a  few 
years  before  the  future  Cardinal's  birth. 

Thomas  Gibbons  possessed  considerable  aptitude  for 
business.  He  obtained  a  position  as  clerk — a  term  of 
variable  meaning  in  those  days — with  Howell  &  Sons,  a 
firm  which  conducted  a  lucrative  importing  business  on 
Gay  Street,  a  short  distance  from  the  house  in  which  he 
took  up  his  residence.    For  years  he  was  entrusted  with 


EARLIEST  YEARS  3 

the  responsibility  of  caring  for  the  money  brought  by 
some  of  the  smart  clipper  ships  which  raced  up  the  Patap- 
sco  River  with  the  trade  of  half  the  world,  and  of  de- 
livering to  the  captains  the  amounts  needed  when  they 
sailed  on  new  quests  for  riches.  It  was  his  custom  not 
to  transfer  to  them  the  funds  for  the  outward  voyage 
until  they  had  passed  beyond  call  of  the  signals  on  land, 
and  then,  having  concluded  his  task  of  fidelity  with  the 
final  signing  of  the  papers,  he  would  row  back  to  port. 
So  scrupulously  exact  was  he  in  these  transactions  that 
there  is  a  tradition  that  the  phrase,  "as  honest  as  Gib- 
bons" was  used  as  a  standard  of  probity  in  the  shipping 
district  of  Baltimore. 

The  city  was  then  beginning  to  burst  from  its  narrow 
beginnings  in  a  surge  of  maritime  development  and  trade 
adventure.  Its  daring  seamen,  like  their  brethren  in 
New  England,  were  spreading  their  sails  in  every  ocean, 
while  the  commercial  fleets  of  Europe  were  almost  deci- 
mated by  losses  in  war.  Grave  merchants  in  sober  dress, 
their  throats  wrapped  in  stiff  black  stocks,  sat  in  count- 
ing rooms  fronting  on  irregular  lines  of  streets  and  traf- 
ficked ambitiously  with  Europe,  South  America  and  the 
Indies.^  Privateer  ships  which  not  many  years  before  had 
ravaged  com.merce  in  hundreds  of  forays,  still  manned  in 
part  by  seamen  who  had  shown  that  they  could  wield  a 
cutlass  as  well  as  trim  a  sail,  crowded  the  wharves  in 
pursuit  of  peaceful  commerce.  Eager  purchasers  clam- 
ored for  the  cargoes  of  the  clippers  arriving  at  Baltimore, 
and  piled  barter  upon  barter  as  some  of  the  great  for- 
tunes of  America  began  to  rise.     In  this  fast  widening 

^  Scharf,  Chronicles  of  Baltimore,  p.  407. 


4  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

whirlpool  of  trade  Thomas  Gibbons  found  a  congenial 
field,  whose  opportunities  for  promotion  encouraged  him. 

The  house  in  which  the  future  Cardinal  was  born  was 
fated,  like  himself,  for  length  of  years.  It  was  not  new 
when  his  parents  moved  into  it.  Through  the  vicissitudes 
of  lower  Gay  Street,  a  part  of  Baltimore  swept  at  inter- 
vals by  torrents  from  near-by  Jones  Falls  and  racked  by 
successive  tremors  of  municipal  reconstruction,  it  stood 
without  material  change  until  1892,  when  the  city  ef- 
faced a  group  of  buildings,  of  which  it  was  one,  in  order 
to  obtain  space  for  a  plaza  for  parades  and  outdoor  meet- 
ings. 

Buoyant  from  youth  to  age  with  zest  for  the  simple 
and  wholesome  things  of  life,  he  cherished  memories  of 
his  first  home  with  vivid  freshness.  He  spoke  of  it  ten- 
derly in  later  years,  recalling  a  flood  of  recollections  from 
a  period  which  is  lost  to  most  persons  in  the  blurred 
impressions  of  infancy.  When  his  mind  was  crowded 
with  the  absorbing  tasks  that  his  career  in  the  Church 
brought  to  him,  his  footsteps  often  lingered  at  its  site  in 
the  course  of  long  rambles  about  the  city  with  which  he 
invigorated  himself  for  large  undertakings. 

Almost  in  his  last  moments,  when  his  powers  rose  in  a 
final  rally,  his  thoughts  swept  backward  as  he  spoke  to  a 
companion  of  the  beloved  dwelling.  No  detail  faded 
from  his  treasured  picture  of  the  simple  architecture  of 
its  two  stories,  its  rooms  with  high  ceilings  that  once 
seemed  a  world  to  him,  the  tall  bedstead  in  which  he 
slept,  the  thin  chimneys  through  which  poured  the  smoke 
from  the  cheerful  fireplaces  around  which  the  family 


EARLIEST  YEARS  5 

gathered    in    winter,    and    the    high-pitched,    sharply 
sloping  roof. 

Six  children  were  born  to  Thomas  and  Bridget  Gib- 
bons, the  first  three  being  daughters  and  the  last  three 
sons.  James  was  the  eldest  son.  He  was  baptized  in  the 
Baltimore  Cathedral  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  I.  White, 
for  whom  in  mature  years  he  cherished  a  warm  affection. 
An  entry  in  his  private  journal  for  April  4,  1878,  when  he 
had  sat  for  six  months  in  the  Archbishop's  chair,  reads : 

"This  morning  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  I.  White,  pastor  of 
St.  Matthew's  Church,  Washington,  was  buried  in  Mt. 
Olivet  Cemetery,  having  died  on  the  1st.  About  twenty- 
five  of  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  were  present  at  the  ob- 
sequies in  Stv  Matthew's  Church,  which  was  filled  to 
repletion,  many  distinguished  Protestants  and  some  of 
the  foreign  ministers  being  present.  I  preached  on  the 
occasion.    It  was  this  venerable  priest  that  baptized  me." 

The  life  of  James  Gibbons,  marked  as  the  greatest 
influence  which  has  developed  in  America  toward  check- 
ing the  dark  forces  of  intolerance  concerning  religion, 
began  in  an  historic  background  befitting  that  task.  The 
city  of  his  birth  bore  the  name  of  the  Catholic  barons 
who  had  set  up  amid  the  wild  forests  of  the  western 
world  a  commonwealth  in  which  for  the  first  time  liberty 
of  conscience  went  hand  in  hand  with  liberty  in  civil 
affairs.  Under  Cecilius  Calvert,  second  of  the  Lords 
Baltimore,  to  whom  the  planting  of  the  colony  of  Mary- 
land was  committed  by  his  dying  father,  Catholic, 
Church  of  England  adherent,  Puritan,  Presbyterian  and 
Jew  shared  equally  in  the  benevolent  protection  of  its 


6  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

laws.^  When  the  shadow  of  approaching  Cromwellian 
domination  darkened  the  outlook,  the  colonial  Assembly 
sought  to  preserve  what  it  was  possible  to  save  out  of  the 
threatened  wreck  of  the  system  by  ordaining  the  Toler- 
ation Act  of  1649,  which  safeguarded  every  Christian  in 
the  province  from  being  in  "anyways  troubled,  molested 
or  discoimtenanced  for  or  in  respect  of  his  or  her  religion 
or  in  the  free  exercise  thereof." 

This  proved  to  be  the  offspring  of  a  vain  hope,  for 
one  Protestant  group  after  another  wrested  control  of 
the  province  from  the  benignant  Caiverts  of  that  early 
generation,  replacing  the  Toleration  Act  with  arbitrary 
statutes  which  disfranchised  Catholics  and  condemned 
them  to  double  taxation.^  Their  equality  of  right  was 
not  restored  imtil  the  American  Revolution,  but  the  wide 
meaning  of  their  daring  experiment  in  the  genesis  of  the 
United  States  is  hallowed  to  this  day  in  the  common- 
wealth which  they  founded. 

Half  a  century  before  Gibbons  was  born,  the  vision 
of  religious  liberty  which  the  Caiverts  cherished  had 
been  incorporated  into  fundamental  law  by  the  fathers 
of  the  Federal  constitution.  The  harsh  voice  of  intol- 
erance was  further  subdued  when  John  Carroll,  the  first 
American  Archbishop,  far-sighted  and  patriotic,  a  Wash- 
ington in  the  robes  of  a  cleric,  organized  the  Catholic 
Church  in  thorough  harmony  with  the  new  republic's  dis- 
tinctive political  institutions. 

In  the  atmosphere  of  freedom,   American   Catholics 

'Russell,  Maryland,  the  Land  of  Sanctuary,  p.  32.    Browne,  Maryland, 
the  History  of  a  Palatinate,  p.  79. 

'^Archives  of  Maryland,  Vol.  VI,  p.  419.     Bacon,  Laivs  of  Maryland, 
Act  of  1756. 


EARLIEST  YEARS  7 

multiplied.  Their  number  in  Maryland  was  estimated 
in  the  year  of  Gibbons'  birth  at  75,000  out  of  a  popula- 
tion of  500,000,  a  greater  proportion  than  in  any  other 
State  of  the  Union.*  They  were  for  the  most  part  a 
strong  group  sprung  from  the  pioneers  who  had  helped 
to  plant  the  Cross  in  the  wilderness  at  St.  Mary's,  when 
the  first  Mass  was  celebrated  in  any  English  colony  on 
the  continent,  and  from  the  early  successors  of  those 
pioneers.  In  Baltimore  the  honored  names  of  some  of 
these  families  have  been  associated  with  everything  that 
is  best  in  the  progress  of  the  city  since  it  was  founded  on 
a  tidewater  marsh  owned  by  one  of  the  Carrolls. 

Although  the  life  of  Gibbons  stretched  well  into  the 
twentieth  century,  the  twilight  of  the  eighteenth  still 
seemed  to  linger  in  the  times  in  which  he  was  born.  He 
was  a  link  between  two  of  the  most  interesting  periods  in 
modern  history.  When  he  was  eighty-three  years  old  he 
wrote : 

"It  must  be  very  difficult  for  the  present  generation  to 
reconstruct  for  themselves  the  world  into  which  I  was 
born ;  things  are  so  completely  changed.  The  Napoleonic 
wars  were  still  a  living  memory.  Many  people  who  were 
by  no  means  old  when  I  was  a  boy  had  seen  General 
Washington;  and  when  I  was  ten  years  old,  men  who 
were  as  old  then  as  I  am  now  were  fourteen  years  of  age 
at  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Slav- 
ery was  still  in  existence  in  the  Southern  states  and  was 
to  remain  in  existence  until  I  was  a  grown  man  and  a 
priest.  Machinery  was  just  coming  into  use,  but  nobody 
dreamed  of  the  extent  to  which  it  would  be  employed 

*  Letter  of  Archbishop  Eccleston  to  the  Congregation  of  the  Propa- 
ganda, quoted  by  Shea,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United 
States,  Vol.  3,  p.  447. 


8  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

later  on.  Electricity  in  all  of  its  uses  was  almost  un- 
dreamed of.  Men  knew  from  the  experiments  of  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  that  it  might  possibly  be  used,  but  the 
telegraph,  telephone  and  electric  light  were  still  to  come. 
Railroads  were  a  new  invention. 

"The  Catholic  Church,  both  in  England  and  in  this 
country,  was  a  small  and  very  depressed  body.  I  was 
eleven  years  old  when  Newman  became  a  Catholic. 
Those  two  great  movements  which  were  to  spread  Cath- 
olicism so  marvelously  throughout  the  English-speaking 
world — I  mean  the  exodus  of  the  Irish  people  after  the 
famine,  and  the  entrance  of  a  large  body  of  Anglicans 
into  the  Catholic  Church — were  still  to  come.  In 
short,  one  may  say  that  when  I  was  a  young  man  we 
were  still  living  on  the  legacy  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury." '^ 

Before  the  Gibbons  home  streamed  a  tide  of  pictur- 
esque life — fashionable  idlers  who  maintained  many  of 
the  traditions  of  the  English  aristocracy;  folk  of  many 
sorts  coming  in  from  the  northeastern  outskirts  of  the 
city  to  the  maze  of  rope  and  mast  that  covered  the  inner 
harbor;  coaches  of  the  rich,  with  liveried  servants  on  the 
boxes,  and  white-arched  Conestoga  wagons  rumbling  in 
from  Pennsylvania  with  the  crops  of  rich  counties  to 
barter  for  the  city's  wares.  Uptown,  in  the  parade  of 
late  Georgian  fashion  which  passed  on  bright  afternoons, 
one  might  observe  here  and  there  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  rich  Santo  Domingan  planters,  driven  not  long  before 
in  a  terrified  swarm  by  the  revolution  of  L'Ouverture  to 
find  in  Baltimore  the  homes  of  exiles.  Merchants  from 
half  a  dozen  States  drank  the  old  wines  of  the  Fountain 

*"My  Memories,"  Cardinal  Gibbons  in  the  Dublin  Review  for  April, 
1917. 


EARLIEST  YEARS  9 

Inn  or  Bamum's,  crowding  to  the  gay  and  busy  city  to 
buy  their  supplies  a  year  ahead. 

The  name  of  Johns  Hopkins  was  on  the  sign  of  a 
wholesale  grocery  store  on  Lombard  Street,  near  Light 
Street.^  A  few  hundred  yards  distant,  on  what  was  then 
called  German  Street,  was  the  dry  goods  establishment 
of  George  Peabody.'^  Around  the  corner,  on  Charles 
Street,  was  the  modest  office  of  Enoch  Pratt,  iron  mer- 
chant. Chief  Justice  Taney's  handsome  residence  was 
on  Lexington  Street,  the  second  house  from  St.  Paul 
Street.  In  the  courts  of  law,  brilliant  speeches  flowed 
from  the  lips  of  William  Pinkney,  Luther  Martin,  Wil- 
liam Wirt  and  Reverdy  Johnson.  Edgar  Allan  Poe, 
recently  dismissed  from  West  Point,  was  walking  the 
streets,  half  submerged  in  a  grand  despair,  seeking  em- 
ployment as  a  writer  or  teacher.  At  the  Adelphi  Thea- 
ter, Junius  Brutus  Booth,  then  at  the  apex  of  his  great 
gifts,  was  playing  nightly  Two  years  before,  a  tottering 
old  man  had  been  an  object  of  respectful  interest  as  he 
used  to  enter  his  residence  at  the  comer  of  Front  and 
Lombard  Streets  after  attending  Mass.  He  was  Charles 
Carroll,  and  the  hand  that  turned  the  heavy  brass  door 
knob  had  signed  the  immortal  Declaration. 

Thomas  Gibbons  became  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  turning  with  relief  from  the  political  turmoil  of 
Ireland  to  the  institutions  of  the  country  in  which  he  had 
found  a  new  home.  Those  were  the  days  of  the  two  presi- 
dential terms  of  Andrew  Jackson.  When  Jackson,  near 
the  close  of  his  second  term,  visited  Baltimore,  there  was 

•Mr.  Henry  C.  Wagner,  antiquarian,  of  Baltimore,  was  the  authority 
for  the  facts  regarding  old  buildings  as  given  here. 
'German  Street  is  now  called  Redwood  Street. 


10  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

in  the  multitude  that  greeted  him  one  who  was  destined 
to  be  the  friend,  confidant  and  counselor  of  many  presi- 
dents— perhaps  of  more  than  any  other  American  yet 
born.  He  was  James  Gibbons,  then  about  three  years 
old,  held  high  in  the  arms  of  his  mother  to  see  the 
famous  man. 

The  lad's  memory  had  already  awakened  to  such  an 
extent  that  this  incident  found  firm  lodgment  in  it,  and 
remained  there  through  the  long  years  that  unfolded 
before  him.  When  past  the  age  of  eighty  he  wrote  thus 
to  the  author  of  a  book  embracing  the  recollections  of  the 
handful  of  survivors  who  had  beheld  "Old  Hickory"  in 
the  flesh : 

"I  was  always  interested  in  Andrew  Jackson  for  per- 
sonal reasons.  When  I  was  an  infant  in  the  year  1837, 
General  Jackson  received  an  ovation  in  Baltimore.  The 
procession  escorting  him  through  the  city  happened  to 
pass  our  residence  and  my  mother  held  me  up  in  her 
arms  to  contemplate  the  hero  of  New  Orleans,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States."  ^ 

Soon  after  this,  the  health  of  the  elder  Gibbons  failed 
and  his  physician  advised  him  to  take  a  long  sea  voyage. 
His  affairs  had  prospered  fairly  well  in  America  before 
the  prospect  of  invalidism  cast  a  dark  veil  over  his  fu- 
ture. The  family  formed  the  hope  that  in  Ireland,  the 
home  of  his  youth,  he  might  regain  strength,  and  at 
length  the  decision  was  reached  to  reestablish  the  house- 
hold there.  The  little  group  embarked  on  the  return 
voyage  in  1837,  and  founded  a  new  home  at  Ballinrobe, 
near  Westport. 

'  Letter  of  Cardinal  Gibbons  to  S.  G.  Heiskell,  of  Knoxville,  Tennessee. 


EARLIEST  YEARS  11 

Thomas  Gibbons  bought  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Ballin- 
robe  and  settled  down  again  to  the  life  of  a  farmer,  upon 
which  he  had  once  turned  his  back  for  the  allurements 
of  America.  That  village  thus  became  the  second  boy- 
hood home  of  the  future  Cardinal — a  quaint  and  placid 
place  with  groups  of  thatched  cottages  fronting  on  its 
shaded  streets.  It  nestles  in  a  region  of  rolling  fields 
of  Ireland's  own  green  and  charming  lakes  and  moun- 
tains, secluded  from  the  beaten  paths  of  travel. 

The  municipal  evolution  which  in  time  erased  from 
the  street  vista  of  Baltimore  every  vestige  of  Cardinal 
Gibbons'  birthplace  proceeded  from  a  state  of  restless- 
ness to  which  Ballinrobe  was  an  utter  stranger,  and  the 
dwelling  occupied  by  the  Gibbons  family  during  its  stay 
in  that  village  continued  to  be  well  preserved  throughout 
his  life.  Its  substantial  three  stories  stood  upon  a  hilly 
street.  For  years  at  a  later  period  it  was  occupied  by  a 
boyhood  friend  of  the  Cardinal,  whose  recollections  of 
their  association  seemed  as  fresh  as  the  verdure  of  the 
neighboring  meadows. 

At  the  age  of  seven  years,  James  was  led  as  a  shrink- 
ing lad  to  begin  his  studies  in  a  private  classical  school 
conducted  in  a  building  which  faced  the  market  square 
of  Ballinrobe.  It  was  a  crudely  constructed  house,  with 
an  earthen  floor,  and  the  pupils  were  grouped  in  none  too 
comfortable  seats  placed  along  the  walls.  The  school 
was  taught  by  a  Mr.  Jennings  and  afterward  by  John  J. 
Rooney,  types  of  the  thorough  Irish  pedagogues  of  those 
days,  to  whom  the  easy  steps  of  modem  elementary  edu- 
cation would  have  been  anathema. 

Young  Gibbons  soon  mastered  the  rudiments  and  at  a 


12  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

comparatively  early  age  began  the  study  of  the  classics 
and  mathematics.  By  the  laborious  methods  then  con- 
sidered indispensable  in  disciplining  the  mind,  he  unrav- 
eled in  turn  the  polished  sentences  of  Virgil,  Ovid, 
Cicero  and  Livy,  and  grappled  with  Xenophon  and 
Homer.  His  grandfather  on  his  mother's  side,  after 
whom  he  had  been  named,  helped  by  teaching  him  with 
affectionate  patience  the  principles  of  mathematics,  and 
thus  accelerated  his  progress. 

The  unfoldment  of  the  lad's  mental  traits  soon  brought 
to  the  surface  qualities  that  were  to  be  of  the  greatest 
use  to  him.  When  he  was  scarcely  beyond  the  age  of  ten 
years,  the  eagerness  of  his  intellect  and  his  power  of 
intense  application  became  so  marked  as  to  attract  at- 
tention, but  his  modesty  tended  to  conceal  the  full  pro- 
portions of  his  gifts.  None  of  his  schoolboy  associates 
who  recorded  in  later  life  their  views  of  him  as  a  com- 
rade recalled  a  trace  of  the  impatient  zeal  to  surpass 
others  which  so  many  bright  youths  are  wont  to  display. 

There  were  fifty  boys  in  the  school  and  not  a  few  of 
them  rose  to  some  distinction.  One  of  them,  Thomas 
Tighe,  became  a  member  of  Parliament  and  held  other 
important  offices.  His  two  brothers,  Robert  and  James 
Tighe,  adopted  the  career  of  officers  in  the  British  Army, 
as  did  another  schoolmate  of  Gibbons,  afterward  Gen- 
eral Sillery.  The  future  Bishop  MacCormack,  of  Gal- 
way,  was  also  a  pupil  at  Ballinrobe,  and  the  ties  of  friend- 
ship which  he  then  formed  with  Gibbons  remained  strong 
after  both  of  them  had  been  elevated  to  episcopal 
rank. 

Thomas  Tighe  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age.     He  recalled 


EARLIEST  YEARS  13 

James  as  "a  most  gentle,  amiable  boy,  very  studious  and 
clever,  and  a  great  favorite."  ^ 

So  rapidly  did  James  advance  in  his  classes  and  such 
was  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  that  he  was  some- 
times called  upon  to  take  charge  of  the  school  when  the 
master  was  absent,  owing  to  sickness.  More  than  any 
other  studies,  the  English  classics  fascinated  him.  His 
favorites  were  Addison,  Goldsmith,  Johnson  and  Moore, 
and  to  his  pronounced  fondness  for  the  study  of  such 
models  as  these  was  due,  in  large  measure,  that  limpid 
flow  of  expression  which  became  a  characteristic  of  his 
literary  style  in  later  years.  His  memory  was  little  short 
of  marvelous,  exciting  the  comment  of  his  teachers  and 
companions.  He  could  quote  offhand  long  passages 
from  poems  that  he  had  read. 

Among  those  strenuous  Irish  lads,  bubbling  with  vital- 
ity, sports  were  rough  when  the  stern  discipline  of  long 
school  hours  was  lifted.  They  wrestled  and  boxed,  ran 
and  jumped,  played  cricket,  football,  handball  and  pris- 
oner's base,  which  later  developed  into  the  American 
game  of  baseball.  Young  Gibbons,  while  not  so  sturdy 
of  frame  as  some  of  his  companions,  loved  the  rigor  of 
their  contests  as  much  as  any.  Although  his  health  was 
not  the  strongest,  his  ardent  love  of  outdoor  life  was 
developing  a  physical  power  which  in  future  years  en- 
abled him  to  sustain  the  greatest  fatigues  of  mind  and 
body.  In  his  favorite  sport  of  football,  his  exploits  pro- 
duced a  lasting  impression  upon  his  comrades;  and  a 
mark  carried  on  one  of  his  fingers  through  life  was  left 
by  an  injury  which  he  received  in  a  game  of  cricket. 

"Extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Thomas  Tighe,  May  27,  1909. 


14.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

James  was  confirmed  by  Archbishop  McHale  at  such 
an  early  age  that  he  had  been  rejected  on  account  of  his 
youth  when  he  sought  the  privilege  in  company  with 
other  children;  but,  mingling  in  the  stream  of  the 
favored  ones,  he  received  the  rite,  notwithstanding  this 
obstacle,  and  was  praised  for  his  persistence.  The  deep 
piety  of  his  mother  exerted  a  marked  influence  upon  him 
in  the  impressionable  period  of  his  early  life.  It  was 
due  largely  to  her  influence  that  he  became  an  altar  boy 
in  the  Ballinrobe  church. 

Catholics  in  Ireland  were  then  beginning  to  worship 
freely  after  years  of  vassalage,  the  long  struggle  of  O'Con- 
nell  having  been  at  length  successful  in  breaking  some 
of  their  bonds.  So  rigid  had  been  the  ban  on  the  priest- 
hood that  Archbishop  McHale,  who  was  consecrated  in 
1825,  was  the  first  Irish  prelate  in  several  centuries 
who  had  been  able  to  receive  all  of  his  ecclesiastical  edu- 
cation in  his  native  land. 

The  Gibbons  family  might  have  remained  in  Ireland 
and  the  Cardinal's  lot  might  not  have  been  cast  in  his 
native  country  had  not  the  death  of  his  father  in  1847, 
when  the  lad  was  thirteen  years  old,  changed  the  whole 
outlook.  Thomas  Gibbons'  brave  struggle  against  ill 
health  came  to  an  end  ten  years  after  his  return  to  Ire- 
land, and  he  was  buried  in  a  rural  cemetery  several  miles 
from  Ballinrobe  in  the  direction  of  the  village  of  Partry. 
When  the  eldest  son  of  the  family  had  entered  the 
priesthood,  he  cared  tenderly  for  the  grave  and  caused 
to  be  erected  around  it  an  ornamental  fence  bearing  a 
tablet  setting  forth  that  it  was  provided  by  him  as  a 
memorial  to  his  father.     Yew  trees  were  planted  at  the 


EARLIEST  YEARS  16 

comers  of  the  lot,  and  within  the  screen  of  foliage  was 
erected  a  simple  stone  which  told  of  the  simple  life  that 
it  commemorated. 

The  energetic  mother,  upon  whom  the  trials  of  widow- 
hood thus  fell  with  exceptional  force,  possessed  resource- 
fulness equal  to  the  emergency.  The  promise  of  America 
had  never  faded  from  her  mind.  She  had  seen  or  heard 
of  boys  born  to  poverty  there  who  had  risen  to  affluence 
and  fame  with  a  rapidity  unknown  in  the  old  world.  The 
head  of  the  nation  during  the  period  of  her  stay  in  Bal- 
timore had  battled  as  a  young  man  with  privation  in  the 
backwoods  of  Tennessee.  She  could  not  know  that  a 
President-to-be,  at  that  same  time  a  rail-splitter  among 
rude  companions  in  Illinois,  would  some  day  be  hailed  as 
one  of  the  world's  greatest  men;  but  the  idea  of  the  op- 
portunity of  America  which  Lincoln  afterward  came  to 
embody  in  the  eyes  of  men  and  women  everywhere  was 
vividly  before  her.  The  family  had  given  up  its  early 
hopes  in  order  that  the  life  of  the  husband  and  father 
might  be  prolonged  in  the  congenial  climate  of  Ireland, 
and  now  those  hopes  were  born  anew.  If  the  children 
remained  in  Ballinrobe,  the  mother  felt  that  their  scope 
in  life  would  be  limited  in  a  time  of  economic  distress 
and  political  disorder. 

Five  years  elapsed,  in  the  course  of  which  the  return 
to  America  was  often  discussed  in  the  family  circle. 
Gathered  round  a  turf  fire  in  the  evening,  the  thoughts 
of  the  mother  and  children  turned  to  the  scenes  which 
they  had  left  behind.  The  mind  of  James  was  ever  eager 
as  to  history,  and  the  land  of  his  birth  possessed  a  fas- 
cination for  him.     He  read  and  listened  to  tales  of  the 


16  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

American  Revolution,  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  of  the 
birth  of  the  "Star-Spangled  Banner"  as  the  spirited  guns 
of  Fort  McHenry  had  repelled  the  attacks  of  a  power- 
ful fleet  near  his  first  home. 

While  the  family  was  in  Ireland  a  new  affliction  be- 
fell it  in  the  death  of  Catherine,  the  favorite  sister  of 
James,  when  she  was  in  her  seventeenth  year.  This  was 
a  loss  which  he  never  forgot.  Most  of  the  children  were 
long  lived.  Mary,  the  eldest,  died  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
two  years  in  New  Orleans  in  1920;  the  youngest  of  the 
sisters,  Bridget,  married  George  Swarbrick  in  New  Or- 
leans, and  died  there  in  1913.  John,  the  second  son, 
survived  the  Cardinal.  The  third  son,  Thomas,  died  in 
New  Orleans. 

A  final  decision  having  been  reached,  even  the  hazard 
of  a  winter  voyage  backward  across  the  Atlantic  was  not 
sufficient  to  deter  Mrs.  Gibbons.  She  embarked  with  her 
children  at  Liverpool  in  January,  1853,  on  a  sailing  ship 
bound  for  New  Orleans.  For  two  months  the  little 
family  endured  the  buffeting  of  gales  before  the  islands 
skirting  the  American  coast  were  sighted. 

The  trials  of  the  voyage  seemed  about  to  end  happily 
when  near  midnight,  on  March  17,  the  vessel  went  hard 
aground  on  a  sand  bar  close  to  the  island  of  Grand  Ba- 
hama, fifty-seven  miles  from  the  lights  of  the  Florida 
shore.  Had  there  been  a  high  wind,  all  on  board  would 
probably  have  been  lost;  but  the  weather  was  calm 
throughout  the  night,  during  which  the  passengers  hud- 
dled together,  facing  an  uncertain  fate.  When  a  bril- 
liant Spring  sun  rose  over  the  rim  of  the  semi-tropical 
sea,  they  were  transferred  in  small  boats  to  the  island, 


EARLIEST  YEARS  17 

whence  they  were  carried  to  Nassau  and  kindly  treated 
until  they  could  continue  their  voyage. 

James  was  within  a  .few  months  of  being  nineteen 
years  old  when  the  family  arrived  in  New  Orleans.  He 
soon  obtained  employment  as  a  clerk  in  a  grocery  store 
on  Camp  Street,  kept  by  William  C.  Raymond.  The 
city  held  a  distinct  place,  then  as  now,  as  the  emporium 
of  the  sugar  and  cotton  growing  region  of  Louisiana,  and 
of  a  large  part  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  as  well.  Into 
Raymond's  store,  with  greetings  of  stately  formality, 
came  elegant  planters,  leaders  of  agricultural  industry,  to 
buy  supplies  for  their  families,  their  employees  and  their 
slaves,  for  six  months  or  a  year  ahead.  For  them,  the 
young  clerk  soon  found,  the  periodical  visit  to  New  Or- 
leans was  an  event  of  social  as  well  as  business  impor- 
tance. The  Latin  courtesy  which  the  French  stock  of 
the  city  had  brought  into  life  there  softened  the  stiff- 
ness of  trade  intercourse.  Daj^^s  were  sometimes  con- 
sumed by  a  planter  in  making  his  purchases  in  one  store, 
and  between  him  and  the  merchant  there  developed  ties 
that  reached  far  beyond  the  circle  of  commercial  inter- 
course. 

Alternating  with  these  interesting  personalities  for 
whom  young  Gibbons'  services  were  performed  in  the 
store,  were  rough  river  men  who  bought  provisions  for 
the  steamboats  that  bore  the  great  tide  of  travel — and  of 
romance  as  well — up  and  down  the  Mississippi.  Pur- 
chasers for  families  in  the  city  were  numerous,  for  Ray- 
mond's business  prospered. 

It  was  said  of  Gibbons  in  later  life,  when  his  versatility 
impressed  so  many,  that  he  would  have  succeeded  in  any 


18  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

occupation.  Certainly  there  is  ground  for  believing  that 
he  would  have  succeeded  in  business  had  he  chosen  it  as  a 
permanent  career.  That  was  the  firm  conviction  of  Ray- 
mond, who  was  attracted  from  the  start  by  the  young 
clerk's  intelligence,  industry  and  fidelity.  The  prospect 
of  promotion  was  held  out  to  him  by  his  employer  when 
he  was  thinking  seriously  of  a  permanent  decision  as  to 
his  future. 

The  year  of  the  Gibbons  family's  arrival  at  New 
Orleans  was  marked  by  the  worst  of  the  many  outbreaks 
of  yellow  fever  which  swept  that  city  before  medical  dis- 
covery drove  the  scourge  from  the  continent.  Of  a  pop- 
ulation of  approximately  100,000,  more  than  10,000 
died  before  the  late  frost  brought  deliverance.  The  cry 
"Bring  out  your  dead"  resounded  in  the  streets  daily,  as 
wagons  went  the  rounds  collecting  bodies.  Hundreds,  it 
is  believed,  perished  from  fear  alone.  James  was  the 
only  member  of  his  family  who  was  stricken  and  he  was 
attacked  by  the  disease  in  its  most  virulent  form. 

He  was  ill  throughout  August,  in  the  intense  heat 
of  the  Louisiana  summer,  and  his  "good  Creole  doctor" — 
thus  he  spoke  later  of  the  physician  who  attended  him — 
virtually  gave  up  his  case  as  hopeless.  His  eldest  sister, 
Mary,  nursed  him  when  the  task  invited  death  for  her- 
self. In  accordance  with  the  then  prevailing  treatment 
for  the  fever,  he  was  kept  in  bed  under  heavy  coverings 
to  cause  perspiration,  hot  baths  were  given  to  him,  and 
he  was  required  to  abstain  from  food.  His  weakness 
became  extreme. 

Youth  and  excellent  habits  were  in  his  favor.  While 
his  health  had  not  been  vigorous,  outdoor  exercise  had 


EARLIEST  YEARS  19 

fortified  his  vitality.  He  said  later  that  he  had  felt  no 
apprehension  as  he  lay  hovering  between  life  and  death. 
After  his  slow  recovery,  he  was  happy  to  find  that  the 
attack  had  left  no  permanent  impairment  of  his  physical 
resources. 

A  solution  of  his  doubts  as  to  his  career  in  life  was  at 
hand.  In  January,  1854,  ^^^^^  he  had  been  in  New 
Orleans  less  than  a  year,  he  attended  a  mission  held  in 
St.  Joseph's  Church  which  fixed  his  aspirations  in  the 
channel  from  which  they  were  never  to  swerve.  Three 
remarkable  young  Redemptorist  priests,  the  Revs.  Isaac 
Thomas  Hecker,  Clarence  Walworth  and  Augustine 
Hewit,  sailed  from  New  York  to  conduct  the  mission. 
All  were  converts  from  Protestantism.  Idealists  by 
nature  and  gifted  with  brilliant  talents,  they  had  run 
the  gamut  of  religious  aspiration  and  had  at  last  taken 
refuge  within  the  fold  of  the  Catholic  Church  as  the 
haven  where  the  eager  inquiries  of  their  restless  natures 
might  find  satisfaction.  Hecker  was  easily  the  leader 
of  the  group. ^^  In  earlier  years,  he  had  been  a  com- 
panion of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  and  George  William 
Curtis  in  the  Socialistic  community  at  Brook  Farm. 
Embarking  later  in  business  life,  the  experience  failed 
to  satisfy  him.  He  was  converted  to  the  Catholic  faith 
in  1844  and  had  been  ordained  a  priest  but  five  years 
before  the  mission  in  New  Orleans  began. 

On  the  voyage  from  New  York,  Hecker  was  stricken 
with  pneumonia,  and  did  not  recover  sufficiently  to  take 
part  in  the  mission  until  near  its  close.  Under  the  spell 
of  a  sermon  preached  by  Father  Walworth  the  priesthood 

"  Elliott,  Life  of  Father  Hecker. 


20  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

became  the  goal  of  young  Gibbons,  in  which  determina- 
tion he  was  influenced  further  by  Father  Duffy,  a  Re- 
demptorist,  the  pastor  of  St.  Alphonsus  Church,  and 
Father  Dufoe,  a  Jesuit,  stationed  at  the  Church  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception.  He  was  also  powerfully  im- 
pressed by  a  lecture  delivered  in  New  Orleans  by  Dr. 
Orestes  A.  Brownson,  the  convert  who  became  one  of 
the  ablest  champions  of  the  Catholic  Church  that  America 
has  produced. 

Four  years  after  this  mission  closed,  Hecker,  Wal- 
worth and  Hewit,  with  two  companions,  obtained  the 
Papal  permission  to  found  the  Congregation  of  Mission- 
ary Priests  of  St.  Paul,  in  which  they  realized  their 
zealous  hope  of  devoting  their  lives  to  preaching  for  the 
conversion  of  Protestants.  The  great  work  of  the 
"Paulist  Fathers"  since  that  time  has  been  their  monu- 
ment ;  but  not  the  least  of  the  fruits  of  the  ardent  labors 
of  these  three  men  for  the  development  of  the  Church 
in  America  was  the  accession  of  the  young  New  Orleans 
clerk  to  the  roll  of  "Ambassadors  of  Christ."  ^^ 

When  young  Gibbons  announced  to  his  family  his  de- 
cision to  become  a  priest,  he  found  his  mother  reluctant 
at  first  to  acquiesce.  Since  she  had  lost  her  husband  by 
death,  she  had  grown  to  lean  more  and  more  upon  her 
eldest  son  as  his  talents  and  character  ripened  with  years, 
and  in  him  she  had  hoped  to  find  the  prop  of  her  old  age. 
Mr.  Raymond,  too,  was  loath  to  see  his  youthful  friend 
forsake  a  business  career  in  which  the  prospects  of  suc- 
cess seemed  so  bright.     A  warm  friendship  had  sprung 

"Walworth  was  the  son  of  Reuben  H.  Walworth,  a  distinguished 
Chancellor  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Hewit  had  been  a  clergyman 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 


EARLIEST  YEARS  21 

up  between  these  two  which  was  to  end  only  with  the 
death  of  Raymond,  many  years  afterward.  James'  de- 
cision remained  fixed  and  at  last  all  consented  to  the  step 
which  he  was  resolved  to  take. 


CHAPTER  II 
STUDENT  DAYS  IN  MARYLAND 

Coupled  with  young  Gibbons'  determination  to  be- 
come a  priest  was  another  decision  unusual  for  one 
aspiring  to  a  life  of  service  within  the  Church.  The 
sense  of  locality  was  ever  strong  in  him;  and  now  he 
resolved  to  make  his  native  city  and  State,  as  far  as  his 
superiors  would  permit,  the  scene  of  the  labors  upon 
which  he  was  about  to  enter.  With  him,  charity  and  all 
good  works  began  at  home.  Had  he  remained  in  Ireland 
he  would  probably  have  wished  to  minister  at  Ballinrobe 
or  Westport.  There  was  something  in  him  which  caused 
the  immediate  duty  to  those  bound  to  him  by  association 
to  loom  large.  While  the  pursuit  of  remote  objects  of 
magnitude  often  fascinated  him,  their  attraction  was  less 
than  that  of  the  task  at  his  own  door. 

The  Cathedral  that  Carroll  had  founded  in  Baltimore 
in  1806  as  the  seat  of  Catholic  influence  in  America  was 
no  longer  the  only  one  in  the  United  States.  New  dio- 
ceses had  been  set  up  and  Bishops  consecrated,  as  the 
flock  of  the  faith  had  increased  in  numbers.  But  still 
there  was  inspiration  in  the  memory  of  the  Catholic  be- 
ginnings that  had  been  made  in  Baltimore,  and  young 
Gibbons'  imaginative  mind  welcomed  eagerly  the  oppor- 
tunity to  go  back  to  the  city  after  the  distant  journeyings 

which  had  diversified  the  experiences  of  his  youth. 

22 


STUDENT  DAYS  IN  MARYLAND  23 

Reflections  born  of  another  year  spent  in  New  Or- 
leans fortified  his  resolution  to  devote  the  remainder  of 
his  life  to  the  Christian  ministry.  Arrangements  were 
made  for  his  admission  to  St.  Charles  College,  then  newly 
erected  in  Howard  County,  Maryland,  on  land  which 
had  been  the  gift  of  Charles  Carroll,  "the  signer,"  to  the 
cause  of  education  for  the  priesthood.  Late  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1855,  J^s^  ^^^^r  his  twenty-first  birthday,  he  left 
the  city  in  which  his  family  had  at  last  found  a  perma- 
nent home  and  set  out  on  the  long  journey  to  Baltimore. 
His  younger  brother  John,  then  beginning  to  rise  in  the 
grain  trade,  from  which  he  was  to  reap  a  harvest  of 
riches,  remained  behind  as  the  mainstay  of  their  mother. 

Although  he  had  lived  in  New  Orleans  but  two  years, 
the  young  aspirant  to  the  priesthood  had  taken  firm  root 
there,  as  he  did  in  every  place  where  he  made  even  a  tem- 
porary home.  With  the  exception  of  the  following  year, 
in  the  vacation  period  of  which  he  was  not  permitted  by 
the  discipline  of  St.  Charles  to  leave  college,  for  fear 
that  the  impulses  of  youth  might  cause  him  to  abandon 
the  life  of  service  to  his  fellow  men,  he  returned  for  fre- 
quent visits  to  his  family  during  a  period  of  sixty-four 
years. 

Students  of  St.  Charles  College  of  a  later  generation 
heard  from  the  Cardinal's  own  lips  the  story  of  his  jour- 
ney from  New  Orleans  to  become  enrolled  there  for  his 
first  term.    He  thus  related  it: 

"It  is  now  nearly  fifty-seven  years  since  I  started  from 
New  Orleans  to  Baltimore  to  take  up  my  ecclesiastical 
studies,  and  I  can  assure  you,  for  I  know  it  from  experi- 
%  that  traveling  in  those  days  was  not  quite  so  pleas- 


ence. 


24  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ant  as  it  is  to-day.  There  were  no  palace  cars,  no  eating 
cars,  no  sleeping  cars,  and  we  had  to  sit  on  the  benches 
of  a  day  coach  for  several  days.  There  was  no  railroad 
connection  then  between  the  Crescent  City  and  the  Monu- 
mental City,  and  I  had  to  ascend  the  Mississippi  River  to 
Cairo;  and  I  continued  my  journey  on  the  Ohio  River  to 
Cincinnati,  and  there  took  a  train  for  Baltimore  over 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  which  was  then  young 
in  its  advancement  toward  modern  facilities  of  travel. 

"The  road  was  not  yet  complete,  and  when  we  reached 
the  Alleghany  Mountains  we  were  obliged  to  cross  a  por- 
tion of  them  by  stage.  I  reached  the  end  of  my  journey 
after  a  travel  of  sixteen  days.  It  now  occupies  about 
twice  that  number  of  hours  to  travel  to  the  same  place."  ^ 

The  Cardinal  added  this  expression  of  thankfulness 
to  his  Sulpician  preceptors  at  St,  Charles : 

**I  shall  always  hold  in  grateful  remembrance  the 
fathers  of  St.  Sulpice  for  having  trained  my  heart  to  vir- 
tue and  religion,  and  for  having  prepared  me  for  the 
ecclesiastical  state.  I  shall  forever  bless  the  memory  of 
the  Redemptorist  father  who  advised  me  to  select  St. 
Charles  College  for  the  pursuit  of  my  studies,  and  I  thank 
an  overruling  Providence  for  having  guided  my  steps  to 
the  institution." 

Giving  in  the  same  address  his  mature  impressions  of 
the  training  to  which  he  had  been  subjected,  he  said: 

"When  I  came  to  St.  Charles  the  strong  discipline 
developed  us.  The  fathers  taught  us  to  love  God;  they 
taught  us  by  word  and  example  to  practice  genuine  char- 
ity and  politeness  towards  one  another.  They  allowed 
us  liberty  without  license,  granting  every  freedom  com- 

*  Address  of  Cardinal   Gibbons   at  the  commencement  of   St.   Charles 
College,  June   13,   1912. 


STUDENT  DAYS  IN  MARYLAND  25 

mensurate  with  good  order,  and  they  showed  us  the  ex- 
ample of  how  to  rule  without  tyranny.  They  shared  in 
our  pastimes  and  amusements,  and  their  greatest  delight 
was  to  contribute  to  our  happiness  and  contentment  of 
mind.  They  sought  by  every  means  to  cure  us  of  that 
sickness  which  is  terrible  to  young  students, — nostalgia 
or  homesickness. 

*Tt  was  a  kindly  but  strong  discipline,  which  devel- 
oped the  moral  qualities  of  those  who  were  called  to  the 
priesthood  and  eliminated  those  who  were  unfit;  and  I 
trust  for  the  good  of  the  American  clergy  that  the  char- 
acter of  the  moral  training  given  at  St.  Charles  will 
remain  always  the  same.  What  we  desire  above  all  are 
priests  who  are  upright  and  manly,  and  put  holiness  of 
life  in  the  hrst  place." 

Arriving  in  Baltimore  on  his  way  to  the  college,  he 
spent  the  night  at  a  hotel  there.  What  he  had  seen  of 
the  city  in  his  boyhood  had  been  bounded  by  a  narrow 
range,  but  he  had  heard  much  more  of  it  from  his  parents 
when  he  was  old  enough  to  receive  wider  and  deeper  im- 
pressions. There  was  still  the  Cathedral,  its  two  slender 
and  lofty  towers  surmounted  by  crosses  seeming  like  up- 
lifted hands  invoking  a  benediction  upon  the  city.  There 
was  Gay  Street,  the  first  vista  that  had  opened  before  his 
infant  eyes,  still  much  the  same  in  1855  ^^  when  he  had 
left  it.  But  what  a  marvelous  change  eighteen  years  of 
growth  had  brought  in  the  city  as  a  whole,  as  in  some 
other  American  cities  of  that  time!  Tens  of  thousands 
had  been  added  to  the  population  and  Baltimore  seemed 
likely  to  overtake  New  York  in  the  race  for  supremacy 
in  numbers,  a  prospect  which  the  change  of  economic 
lines  in  the  Civil  War  swept  away  a  few  years  later. 


26  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Instead  of  the  cloud  of  sailing  ships,  from  huge  square 
riggers  that  roved  halfway  around  the  world,  to  graceful 
sloops  that  skimmed  the  surface  of  the  Chesapeake  like 
swallows,  now  a  majority  of  the  vessels  in  the  harbor 
were  propelled  by  steam.  On  the  east  the  Lazaretto 
light,^  blinking  at  the  marine  procession  that  passed  and 
repassed,  was  no  longer  a  lone  sentinel  on  the  outskirts  of 
Baltimore,  but  the  expanse  of  houses  was  creeping  be- 
yond it.  To  the  west  the  swinging  sign  of  the  General 
Wayne  Inn,  bearing  a  gaudy  portrait  of  "Mad  Anthony" 
in  blue  and  buff,  which  had  once  cheered  the  teamster 
with  the  thought  that  he  would  soon  reach  the  city,  was 
now  well  within  its  limits. 

On  a  gloomy  day  in  early  Autumn  the  young  student 
arrived  at  St.  Charles,  which  was  not  far  from  Baltimore. 
The  Rev.  Oliver  L.  Jenkins,  president  of  the  college, 
received  him.  Father  Jenkins  called  Ridgely  Dorsey, 
one  of  the  forty  students  who  attended  the  college  at  that 
session,  and  said :  "Dorsey,  this  is  young  Gibbons.  Take 
him  downstairs  to  supper."  Thus  began  a  friendship 
with  Dorsey  that  lasted  throughout  their  college  days. 

Gibbons  had  not  been  informed  of  the  rule  of  silence 
which  prevailed  at  St.  Charles  except  during  recreation 
hours  and  on  holidays,  and  he  spoke  in  after  years  of  the 
extent  to  which  it  had  oppressed  him.  He  first  observed 
it  as  the  students  marched  to  supper  on  the  day  of  his 
arrival,  though  they  were  permitted  to  talk  at  the  table. 
Soon  afterward,  when  the  bell  rang  summoning  them  for 
night  prayers,  complete  silence  prevailed  as  they  entered 

*  A  beacon  for   shipping  named   from  the  former  site  of  a   seamen's 
hospital. 


STUDENT  DAYS  IN  MARYLAND  27 

the  hall.  As  they  went  to  the  dormitory  later,  the  line 
was  headed  by  Father  Menu,  of  whom  Gibbons  finally 
summoned  courage  to  ask:  "Where  are  we  going*?" 
The  priest  pointed  silently  to  the  bed  which  the  new 
student  was  to  occupy,  and  retired  from  the  room  without 
uttering  a  word. 

In  the  morning,  when  the  bell  again  rang  for  prayers. 
Gibbons  was  still  mystified  by  the  silence  as  the  students 
filed  into  the  hall.  Father  Jenkins  stood  waiting  to 
officiate  at  the  prayers.  Gibbons,  blithe,  warm-hearted 
and  inclined  to  be  sociable  as  always,  walked  up  to  the 
priest  and,  putting  out  his  hand,  said  in  a  voice  whose 
echoes  appeared  to  reverberate  loudly  in  the  prevailing 
calm:  "I  hope  you  are  well  this  morning,  Mr.  Jenkins." 
Father  Jenkins,  of  course,  did  not  pay  any  heed  to  this 
remark,  and  Gibbons,  embarrassed,  subsided  into  com- 
plete acquiescence  in  the  silence,  although  it  continued 
to  be  a  sore  trial  to  him  for  some  time. 

The  institution  was  then  housed  in  a  single  granite 
building,  erected  from  stone  quarried  in  the  near-by  hills. 
It  served  for  all  purposes — recitation  rooms,  accommo- 
dations for  the  professors  and  a  dormitory  for  the  stu- 
dents. The  style  of  living,  as  Gibbons  afterward  re- 
called it,  was  rather  primitive.  The  dormitory  was 
heated  by  a  single  large  stove  in  the  center,  and  in  win- 
ter the  students  suffered  much  from  cold  at  the  ends  of 
the  room. 

This  lack  of  comfort  was  soon  felt  severely.  The 
winter  of  1855-56  was  the  coldest  in  Maryland  since 
1817.^     The  average  temperature  for  the  season  was 

'  United  States  Weather  Bureau  Records. 


28  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

314°  Fahrenheit,  nearly  five  degrees  below  the  normal. 
The  thermometer  often  recorded  zero  or  thereabouts  and 
the  students  had  to  break  the  ice  in  their  water  pitchers 
when  they  bathed.  For  the  young  man  but  lately  arrived 
from  the  warm  climate  of  New  Orleans  the  change  was 
especially  trying. 

Gibbons  began  his  studies  at  St.  Charles  with  the 
diligence  that  had  marked  him  during  his  schooling  at 
Ballinrobe.  The  course  in  the  classics  and  other  branches 
of  knowledge  in  preparation  for  the  priesthood  was  rig- 
orous, being  intended  as  a  preliminary  test  both  of  the 
mental  capacity  and  the  physical  robustness  of  young 
men  who  aspired  to  that  career.  Those  who  could  not 
meet  the  exactions  were  forced  to  drop  out,  realizing 
their  own  lack. 

The  future  Cardinal  soon  took  high  rank  in  his  studies, 
and  was  at  the  head,  or  near  the  head,  of  all  his  classes 
throughout  his  residence  at  St.  Charles.  The  thorough 
preparation  to  which  he  had  been  subjected  by  Irish 
schoolmasters  stood  him  in  good  stead.  In  the  interval 
when  he  had  been  a  clerk  in  New  Orleans  he  seemed  to 
have  forgotten  nothing;  in  fact,  men  who  were  close  to 
him  after  he  had  risen  to  high  positions  in  the  Church 
were  unable  to  detect  from  their  own  observation  that  a 
single  fact  which  had  once  found  a  place  in  his  mind  was 
ever  dropped  from  it.  The  full  course  at  St.  Charles  was 
six  years,  but  he  had  no  difficulty  in  completing  it  in  two. 

His  zeal  for  the  study  of  Latin  was  all  that  could  be 
desired  in  an  institution  one  of  whose  primary  objects 
was  to  train  future  priests  to  think,  speak  and  write  in 


STUDENT  DAYS  IN  MARYLAND  29 

the  universal  language  of  the  Church.  Father  Randanne 
was  the  professor  of  Latin  and  he  emphasized  m  his  own 
practise  the  rigorous  methods  of  teaching  the  classical 
languages  which  were  then  followed  in  schools  every- 
where. In  the  case  of  Gibbons,  however,  he  soon  found 
that  the  pupil  gave  some  indications  of  surpassing  the 
master. 

One  day  the  students  were  translating  a  lesson  in 
Tacitus  and  Gibbons  was  called  upon  to  read  a  number 
of  lines.  He  pronounced  them  in  Latin,  following  with 
a  translation  into  English  and  then  construing  the  sen- 
tences. Father  Randanne  had  a  habit  of  requiring  stu- 
dents whose  recitations  he  wished  to  criticize  to  repeat 
the  reading  of  questioned  passages  in  the  hope  that  they 
would  perceive  their  own  errors.  All  in  the  class  knew 
his  meaning  when  he  said  to  the  young  student: 

"You  will  read  and  translate  that  again." 

Gibbons  obeyed  the  instructions,  but  read  and  con- 
strued the  passage  identically  as  before.  Father  Ran- 
danne was  unmoved. 

"Read  it  once  more,"  he  commanded. 

The  student  went  over  the  graceful  sentences  from  the 
Agricola  a  third  time,  exactly  as  he  had  done  on  the  first 
and  second  renderings.  It  was  plain  that  he  had  no  in- 
tention of  attempting  to  obtain  approval  by  making  a 


change. 


Father  Randanne  then  explained  wherein  he  had  not 
agreed  with  Gibbons  concerning  the  translation  of  cer- 
tain sentences  and  that  he  had  hoped  for  a  change  in 
rereading.    He  gave  his  views  of  the  translation  and  was 


30  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

evidently  disconcerted  by  Gibbons'  course.  The  young 
student  maintained  respectful  courtesy,  but  gave  no  sign 
that  he  had  modified  his  own  opinions  in  any  degree,  for, 
being  unconvinced,  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  be 
guilty  of  even  a  shadow  of  misrepresentation  concerning 
his  real  views.  It  was  remarked  of  him  by  his  fellow 
students  on  other  occasions  as  well  as  that  one,  that  he 
could  not  be  budged  when  he  believed  that  he  was  right. 

For  some  time  afterward  Father  Randanne,  doubtless 
with  the  object  of  maintaining  discipline,  treated  Gib- 
bons rather  severely,  saying,  "Come  here,  you  Gibbons  I" 
when  he  wished  to  summon  him.  But  he  always  found 
that  Gibbons  knew  the  lessons  well  and  that  he  had 
reasons  at  his  tongue's  end  for  all  conclusions  that  he 
expressed. 

Father  Randanne,  in  addition  to  teaching  Latin,  had 
some  disciplinary  duties  in  connection  with  the  students. 
He  was  careful  to  observe — indeed,  it  was  his  duty  to 
do  so — anything  in  them  which  appeared  to  him  to  indi- 
cate a  worldly  tendency,  and  to  endeavor  to  stamp  it  out. 
When  Gibbons  arrived  at  St.  Charles,  it  was  the  fashion 
of  the  day  for  young  men  to  wear  very  tight  trousers.  He 
had  left  New  Orleans  with  two  suits  of  clothes  made  in 
the  prevailing  style,  but  in  playing  football  and  pris- 
oner's base  the  seams  soon  began  to  rip.  The  stern 
Father  Randanne  had  a  new  suit  made  for  him,  of  which 
Gibbons  afterwards  said  that  the  waistcoat  came  up  to 
his  chin  and  the  coat  descended  to  his  heels,  while  the 
legs  were  large  enough  for  a  man  of  exceptional  size. 
In  bestowing  the  suit  upon  him,  Father  Randanne  re- 
marked: 


STUDENT  DAYS  IN  MARYLAND  31 

"I  will  cure  you  of  your  vanity."  * 

In  his  classes  Gibbons,  while  rather  quiet  on  the  whole, 
was  inquisitive.  It  was  said  of  him  that  the  questions 
which  he  asked  were  clearly  intended  to  bring  forth 
answers  that  meant  something.  He  obeyed  strictly  all 
the  rules  of  the  institution  and  his  companions  of  that 
day  who  spoke  of  him  afterward  agreed  that  his  deport- 
ment was  a  model. 

Some  estimate  of  the  measure  which  the  students  took 
of  him  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  a  number  of 
them  fell  into  the  habit  of  addressing  him  as  "Dominus" 
(master).  Dorsey,  who  knew  him  perhaps  as  intimately 
as  any  one  else  at  St.  Charles,  said  that  there  "seemed 
to  be  something  very  great  about  him."  It  would  appear 
that  most  of  the  students  were  rather  puzzled  by  his 
exceptional  versatility  when  they  attempted  to  judge 
his  character  and  attainments.  Then,  as  later,  he  ex- 
hibited capacity  in  so  many  different  directions  that  no 
single  endowment  appeared  to  impress  the  observer  by 
sheer  contrast.  Combined  with  sweetness  of  character 
and  unfailing  good  temper,  he  preserved  a  certain  dignity 
through  which  nothing  could  break.  Some  of  his  friends 
accounted  for  the  bestowal  of  his  title  of  "Dominus"  by 
this  trait. 

He  impressed  Dorsey  as  being  characterized  by  sim- 
plicity, modesty,  straightforwardness  and  earnestness — 
an  accurate  forecast  of  the  Gibbons  of  the  future.  With 
the  students  outside  of  classes,  he  was  not  loquacious. 
His  discriminating  judgment  of  human  nature,  one  of 

*The  anecdote  of  Father  Randanne  and  the  suit  of  clothes,  un- 
doubtedly authentic,  appears  in  Cardinal  Gibbons,  Churchman  and 
Citizen,  by  the  Rev.  Albert  E.  Smith  and  Vincent  de  P.  Fitzpatnck. 


32  LIFE  OF  CARDINAI.  GIBBONS 

the  most  marked  gifts  which  he  possessed,  soon  became 
known. 

In  time,  he  was  sought  as  a  leader  in  recreations,  but 
he  never  pushed  himself  forward.^  While  he  seemed 
frail,  he  was  devoted  to  walking,  and  keen  in  outdoor 
sports.  The  students  were  required  to  take  long  walks 
for  exercise  and  they  often  tramped  the  Frederick  turn- 
pike from  the  college  to  Ellicott  City,  the  county  seat, 
and  return.  Dorsey,  who  was  the  companion  of  Gibbons 
on  many  of  these  excursions,  was  fascinated  by  English 
literature  and  had  an  exceptional  admiration  for  the 
works  of  Samuel  Johnson.  The  two  often  talked  of 
Johnson  with  enthusiasm,  in  which  there  were  some 
traces  of  the  critical,  as  they  swung  along  the  smooth 
roadway  at  an  easy  gait. 

Prisoner's  base,  handball  and  football  were  the  chief 
games  in  which  the  students  indulged.  Gibbons  was 
ardent  in  these  and  was  also  fond  of  foot  racing.  He 
had  a  habit  of  leaping  fences  and  walls  when  -on  his 
pedestrian  excursions. 

Across  the  Frederick  turnpike  from  the  college  grounds 
was  the  manorial  estate  of  the  Carroll  family,  of  which 
the  site  of  St.  Charles  had  been  a  part.  At  the  time  of 
Gibbons'  studies  there,  the  master  of  the  manor  was 
Colonel  Charles  Carroll,  grandson  of  the  famous  man  for 
whom  he  had  been  named,  and  the  father  of  a  future 
Governor  of  Maryland,  then  a  boy  on  the  estate.®  The 
students  were  free  to  roam  over  the  manor  grounds  at  will 
and  to  pluck  the  fruit  which  grew  there  in  abundance. 

^Reminiscences  of  Ridgely  Dorsey. 
'John   Lee    Carroll. 


STUDENT  DAYS  IN  MARYLAND  33 

At  times  the  Sulpician  fathers,  supplementing  the  simple 
rations  upon  which  they  and  the  students  subsisted,  sent 
several  of  the  young  men  to  gather  cherries  from  the 
abundance  which  reddened  numerous  trees  on  the  estate, 
and  Gibbons  shared  in  these  quests. 

One  of  his  comrades  at  St.  Charles  was  John  S.  Foley, 
a  member  of  a  Catholic  family  of  Baltimore,  later  Bishop 
of  Detroit,  who,  after  the  lapse  of  many  years,  wrote 
thus  of  his  recollections  of  the  future  Cardinal : 

"The  burdens  of  his  high  office  have  told  upon  his 
slender  frame  with  advancing  years,  and  yet  as  he  rises 
before  my  mental  retrospect,  I  cannot  see  much  change 
in  the  supple,  trim  figure  that  entered  so  ardently  into 
our  youthful  sports.  He  still  preserves  the  grace  of 
movement  of  his  early  days,  when,  with  all  his  apparent 
delicacy,  he  proved  himself  to  be  as  elastic  as  tempered 
steel.  Those  were  the  days  when  the  fixed  rules  of  foot- 
ball a  la  Rugby  were  unknown  or  ignored,  and  I  recall 
with  an  accelerated  pulse  the  dash  with  which  the 
Cardinal  in  petto  broke  into  the  melee  around  the  elusive 
sphere  and  ruthlessly  beat  down  all  opponents. 

"Whatever  he  did  was  done  with  all  his  might  and  that 
is  the  philosophy  of  his  story.  He  engaged  in  his  studies 
in  the  same  earnest,  indefatigable  fashion  that  he  ex- 
hibited at  football  or  in  the  racquet  court,  and  his  mind 
was  as  active  as  his  body,  full  of  spring  and  resiliency. 
He  was  a  youth,  too,  of  noble  and  generous  impulses  and 
his  unaffected  modesty  was  the  most  charming  trait  of 
his  character.  All  these  splendid  attributes  he  has  car- 
ried with  him  into  the  turbulent  arena  of  life." 

Bishop  Burke,  of  Albany,  who  survived  to  a  venerable 
age,  spent  one  year  with  the  future  Cardinal  at  St. 
Charles.      He    recorded    his    impression   that    Gibbons 


84  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"endeared  himself  to  everybody  by  his  amiability  and 
obliging  disposition." 

So  zealous  was  Gibbons  to  continue  his  classical 
studies,  that  he  wished  to  remain  at  St.  Charles  for 
another  year,  but  Father  Jenkins  refused  permission  for 
him  to  do  so  on  the  ground  that  he  was  already  thor- 
oughly equipped  to  enter  St.  Mary's  Seminary  in  Balti- 
more and  begin  the  final  stage  of  his  preparation  for  the 
priesthood.  He  was  therefore  listed  for  his  diploma  in 
June,  1857.  There  were  only  four  graduates  in  that 
year,  some  of  those  who  had  begun  the  course  having 
dropped  out.  Gibbons  was  selected  to  deliver  the  ad- 
dress on  Commencement  Day  to  Archbishop  Kenrick,  of 
Baltimore,  who  was  expected  to  be  the  guest  of  honor. 

Impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  task  committed 
to  him,  he  spent  a  month,  as  he  afterward  related,  in 
preparing  an  address  and  then  notification  was  sent  to 
Father  Jenkins  that  the  Archbishop  could  not  be  present. 
Another  prelate  was  invited  and  Gibbons  recast  the  ad- 
dress, only  to  learn  a  few  days  before  the  commencement 
that  this  plan  had  also  been  abandoned.  It  was  too  late 
to  obtain  the  services  of  a  distinguished  churchman  and 
Colonel  Carroll,  of  the  manor,  was  invited  to  preside 
at  the  exercises.  Gibbons  reshaped  his  address  once 
more  and  shortened  it,  confining  himself  to  references  to 
the  Carroll  family  and  to  the  courtesy  which  the  people 
of  the  manor  had  shown  to  the  students  during  the  period 
of  their  residence  at  the  college.  In  this  form  he  was 
able  to  deliver  it. 

In  the  summer  of  1857,  he  was  free  to  return  to  New 
Orleans  for  the  first  time  since  he  had  left  that  city.    He 


STUDENT  DAYS  IN  MARYLAND  35 

gave  in  a  letter  to  Dorsey  some  account  of  his  trip  down 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  which,  picturesque  at  all  times, 
deeply  impressed  his  fresh  imagination  then.    He  wrote : 

"New  Orleans,  August  7,  1857. 
"My  dear  Friend  Dorsey: 

"  'What  shall  I  say  that  thou  are  doing  in  the  region 
of  Woodstock'?'  Are  you  meditating  on  Brownson  or 
Locke,  poring  over  Goldsmith's  'Deserted  Village*  or 
locked  in  the  embraces  oi  your  beloved  Johnson? 

"I  hope  at  least,  my  dear  friend,  that  you  are  enjoying 
yourself.  I  am  scarcely  yet  settled  at  home,  having  ar- 
rived on  last  Saturday,  after  a  journey  of  nearly  three 
weeks.  I  have  seen  many  strange  things  on  my  travels; 
after  studying  the  theories  of  things  for  two  years,  I  have 
taken  a  practical  view  of  the  world. 

"By  a  trip  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  you  can  see 
the  world  in  miniature.  You  are  sure  to  encounter  on 
the  boat  Yankees  and  Southerners,  French,  Dutch, 
English,  with  a  good  supply  of  that  ubiquitous  C?)  race 
— the  Irish.  There  is  no  better  school  for  politics,  for 
here  the  merits  of  all  parties  are  diligently  discussed. 
You  may  judge  from  the  length  of  time  that  I  was  com- 
ing down  that  I  had  enough  of  time  to  make  observations. 
I  cannot  attempt  to  give  you  the  least  idea  of  the  beauty 
of  the  scenery  to  be  met  with  in  these  rivers.  It  is,  I  sup- 
pose, the  most  majestic  scene  to  be  met  with  in  the 
whole  world.  If  it  were  otherwise,  I  should  be  tired  out 
after  a  confinement  of  fourteen  days  on  a  boat. 

"I  was  telling  you  that  I  feared  a  disappointment  in  a 
boat  at  Cincinnati  and  my  fears  were  realized.  After 
arriving  in  that  city  on  Wednesday,  I  was  obliged  to 
remain  until  the  following  Saturday,  when  I  took  passage 
on  the  David  Gibson.  I  spent  the-first  Sunday  in  Louis- 
ville, where  I  attended  vespers  at  Bishop  Spalding's 
magnificent  new  Cathedral,  and  the  following  Sunday  I 


36  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

spent  in  Memphis,  Tennessee,  where  we  were  discharg- 
ing freight.  The  third  Sunday  found  me  once  more  in 
the  bosom  of  my  family.  I  need  not  tell  you  what  hap- 
piness we  mutually  felt  in  meeting  once  more  after  so 
long  an  absence. 

"I  have  done  very  little  in  the  way  of  study  since  I 
came  home.  My  leisure  hours  are  principally  spent  in 
paying  visits  and  writing  letters  to  our  St.  Charles 
friends.  I  try  to  rend  some  English  works,  but  I  can- 
not lay  my  mind  down  to  get  through  one  at  a  time. 
I  read  a  chapter  in  Blackwood's  Magazine  and  then  pick 
up  Macaulay's  England^  Chateaubriand  or  some  religious 
book.  I  had  intended  to  ride  out  on  the  cars  to  see  Ven- 
issat ''  but  I  was  informed  yesterday  by  the  Archbishop 
that  he  had  arrived  safely. 

"The  weather  at  present  is  very  hot  but  the  city  is 
remarkably  healthy.  This,  in  fact,  would  be  one  of  the 
most  agreeable  cities  in  the  Union  were  it  not  for  those 
modern  locusts — the  mosquitoes.  They  have  a  particu- 
lar attachment  for  me,  as  you  could  judge  from  my 
physiognomy. 

"I  am  spending  my  time  very  agreeably,  and  I  hope  the 
same  for  you.  .  .  . 

"I  hope  you  will  favor  me  with  a  letter.  I  intend  to 
leave  the  first  of  September,  so  in  order  to  receive  yours 
it  must  be  sent  before  the  20th. 

"I  remain,  your  sincere  friend  in  Christ, 

"James  Gibbons.'' 

On  the  visit  to  Louisville  mentioned  in  his  letter,  he 
had  met  for  the  first  time  Martin  John  Spalding,  Bishop 
of  that  diocese  and  destined  to  be  one  of  his  own  prede- 
cessors in  the  episcopal  chair  of  Baltimore.  Before  Gib- 
bons left  on  his  vacation  trip  Archbishop  Kenrick  had 

'  A  French  student  at  St  Charles. 


STUDENT  DAYS  IN  MARYLAND  37 

given  him  some  pamphlets  to  be  delivered  to  Bishop 
Spalding,  who  in  the  transaction  of  this  mission  beheld 
the  self-effacing  student  whom  he  was  to  welcome  to  his 
heart  later  with  the  affectionate  title  of  his  "Benjamin," 
the  youngest  protege  of  his  old  age. 

With  mental  freshness  renewed  by  the  trip  to  New 
Orleans,  Gibbons  returned  to  Baltimore  in  September 
and  began  his  training  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary  under  the 
presidency  of  the  Rev.  Francois  L'Homme,  a  French  Sul- 
pician.  Now  there  could  be  no  shortening  of  the  course 
by  virtue  of  his  attainments.  Since  the  Council  of  Trent, 
the  Church  has  insisted  upon  rigorously  thorough  prepar- 
ation for  the  duties  of  the  priesthood,  and  repeated  de- 
crees of  Plenary  Councils  in  the  United  States  have  rein- 
forced that  decision. 

Learning  is  held  to  be  essential  for  the  vocation,  but 
beyond  and  above  that  the  supreme  object  of  the  discip- 
line is  to  make  the  aspirant  like  Christ,  as  far  as  human, 
nature  can  approach  the  sublimest  of  ideals.  From  the 
moment  in  the  early  morning  when  he  is  awakened  by  the 
resonant  call  of  the  priest  "Benedicamus  Domino,''  and 
responds  with  the  formula  "Deo  Gr atlas''  he  is  subjected 
until  he  retires  at  night  to  a  calculated  process  whose  aim 
is  to  intensify  the  spiritual  aspect  of  his  nature.  Min- 
gled with  the  stern  course  in  philosophy,  theology.  Scrip- 
ture, Church  history  and  canon  law,  are  prolonged  medi- 
tations and  devotions  and  searching  scrutiny  of  charac- 
ter. Fatigue  may  grant  no  respite  from  the  rigor  that  is 
intended  to  eliminate  self  and  fix  the  eyes  of  the  begin- 
ner upon  the  goal  of  service  and  sacrifice.  In  the  midst 
of  his  sorest  trials  he  must  face  his  task  without  gloom, 


38  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

for  he  must  remember  that  the  resurrection,  with  its  life 
and  hope,  is  the  central  fact  of  Christian  theology. 

If  he  gives  any  sign  of  wavering  resolution  or  of 
deficient  moral,  mental  or  physical  capacity,  a  quiet  word 
is  spoken  and  the  seminary  sees  him  no  more.  To  only  a 
carefully  chosen  group  comes  the  voice  of  the  Church 
declaring  in  the  language  of  Holy  Writ:  "Thou  art  a 
priest  forever." 

The  devoted  fathers  of  St.  Mary's  had  come  to  Balti- 
more in  Archbishop  Carroll's  time  to  begin  the  work  of 
training  a  native  priesthood,  and  French  influence  was 
still  strong  in  the  institution,  whose  mother  house  re- 
mained in  Paris.®  Owing  to  the  inadequate  facilities  at 
home  in  those  days,  many  American  priests  were  still 
educated  abroad,  and  a  large  number  of  others  who 
labored  in  the  United  States  were  of  foreign  birth. 
Protestant  churches,  which  did  not  exact  such  strict  re- 
quirements, early  recruited  their  ministers  from  native 
soil  and  accepted  them  with  such  education  as  they  could 
obtain  at  home.  The  Lutheran  clergy,  most  of  whom 
still  spoke  German  in  the  pulpit,  continued  to  be  pre- 
dominantly Teutonic;  and  not  a  few  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  clergy  were  Englishmen,  or  graduates  of 
English  colleges.  A  largely  increasing  number  of  Ameri- 
cans were  seeking  holy  orders  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  the  tide  was  fast  turning  from  Paris  and  Louvain. 

A  severe  attack  of  illness  prostrated  Gibbons  soon  after 
his  admission  to  St.  Mary's.  It  was  believed  to  proceed 
from  malaria,  a  malady  then  common  in  the  lower  Mis- 
sissippi Valley,  often  confused  with  intermittent  fever. 

•Guilday,  The  Life  and  Times  of  John  Carroll,  p.  469. 


STUDENT  DAYS  IN  MARYLAND  39 

Alternate  chills  and  fever  prostrated  him,  and  for  five 
weeks  he  was  compelled  to  remain  in  bed  most  of  the 
time. 

This  obstacle  at  the  outset  of  his  theological  training 
discouraged  him.  There  were  serious  fears  both  among 
the  professors  and  the  students  that  he  was  not  strong 
enough  to  complete  the  course.  On  one  occasion  he 
entered  Dorsey's  room,  staggered  against  the  bed  to  sup- 
port himself,  and  exclaimed  despairingly: 

"Dorsey,  I  am  afraid  they  will  send  me  home  because  I 
am  ill  and  unable  to  attend  classes." 

He  talked  in  this  strain  for  some  time,  contemplating 
with  intense  regret  the  prospect  of  being  compelled  to 
give  up  his  hope  of  entering  the  priesthood.  At  length 
a  slow  improvement  began  and  in  December  he  was  able 
to  resume  his  studies. 

Called  upon  soon  afterward  to  defend  a  point  in  phil- 
osophy, he  surprised  all  who  heard  him  by  his  ability  and 
thoroughness,  worthy  of  an  advanced  student.  His  suc- 
cess in  philosophy  became  so  marked  that  he  was  ap- 
pointed master  of  the  conferences  held  three  times  a  week 
by  the  students  to  discuss  the  points  covered  by  the  lec- 
tures of  the  professor  and  to  arrive  at  a  fuller  understand- 
ing of  them.  The  teacher  of  philosophy  at  that  time, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Francois  P.  Dissez,  who  had  just  begun  his 
preceptorial  career  at  the  seminary,  became  greatly  at- 
tached to  Gibbons  and  his  appreciation  of  the  ripening 
mental  power  of  the  young  student  was  keen  through- 
out the  course. 

Like  his  pupil,  Dissez  seemed  to  be  in  frail  health  and 
some  made  the  prediction  that  neither  of  them  would 


40  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

survive  more  than  a  few  years,  at  most.  Nearly  all  of 
the  students  and  teachers  who  thus  looked  upon  them 
with  pity  had  long  been  dead  when  Dissez  celebrated  in 
1907  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  entrance  into  the 
seminary.  The  only  living  member  of  the  philosophy 
class  which  he  had  taught  as  his  first  task  at  that  insti- 
tution was  present  in  the  person  of  Cardinal  Gibbons, 
who  voiced  from  an  overflowing  heart  his  affection  for 
his  old  instructor.  Through  his  .long  life,  Father  Dissez 
cherished  as  one  of  his  happiest  recollections  the  zeal  and 
industry  of  his  famous  pupil. 

Father  Dissez  left  some  notes  on  Gibbons'  career  at 
St.  Mary's.®  He  recalled  that  Father  Jenkins,  president 
of  St.  Charles,  recommended  Gibbons  to  the  faculty  of 
the  seminary  with  the  encomium:  "Bon  esprit;  talent." 
At  the  beginning  of  the  course  Gibbons  ranked  second  in 
the  philosophy  class,  but  before  the  first  year  ended  he 
took  the  lead  and  retained  it.    Father  Dissez  wrote : 

"James  Gibbons  manifested  the  bon  esprit  at  St. 
Mary's  as  at  St.  Charles'  by  his  affability,  politeness  and 
kindness  toward  all,  superiors  and  fellow-students.  He 
was  a  regular  and  edifying  seminarian.  He  profited  by 
all  opportunities  to  increase  his  knowledge.  Even  in 
recreation  he  liked  to  ask  his  professors  about  the  subject 
matter  of  his  studies  or  readings.  He  had  a  special  zeal 
for  the  study  of  Holy  Scripture;  in  his  private  rule  he  set 
apart  one  hour  to  read  it  every  day.  .  .  .  Another  excel- 
lent trait  manifested  by  Mr.  James  Gibbons  during  his 
seminary  course  was  his  tenderness  exercised  in  a  spe- 
cial way  towards  his  excellent  and  severely  tried  friend, 

•  Article  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wendell  S.  Reilly,  in  the  Baltimore  Catholic 
Review,  May  28,  1921. 


STUDENT  DAYS  IN  MARYLAND  41 


Mr.  Onthank,  who  died  of  consumption  after  a  long 
period  of  sickness."  ^" 

Gibbons  met  every  test  at  the  seminary.  He  was  de- 
scribed by  his  teachers  as  "having  exceptional  facility  in 
his  studies,  to  which  he  applied  himself  with  great  eager- 
ness." He  was  "of  a  cheerful  and  even  temper,  and 
gained  the  esteem  and  affection  of  all."  ^^ 

He  received  the  tonsure  in  the  Baltimore  Cathedral, 
September  15,  1858,  at  the  hands  of  Archbishop  Ken- 
rick,  who  conferred  upon  him  the  four  minor  orders 
June  16  of  the  following  year.  The  same  prelate  pro- 
moted him  to  the  subdiaconate  June  28,  1861;  to  the 
diaconate  June  29  and  to  the  priesthood  June  30. 

Speaking  at  St.  Mary's  after  half  a  century  had  passed, 
he  said : 

*Tf  I  have  accomplished  anything  in  my  fifty  years  as 
a  priest — if  I  have  made  men  live  better  lives  or  guided 
their  footsteps  to  a  holier  existence — it  has  been  because 
of  the  influence  of  this  venerable  seminary  and  the  holy 
men  who  taught  me.  They  always  said,  'come,'  not  'go' ; 
their  virtue  was  always  leading  us  and  their  crosses  were 
always  heavier  than  ours.  In  all  my  life,  when  difHcult 
situations  confronted  me,  when  life  seemed  dark  and 
unavailing,  I  have  thought  of  the  holy  men  who  have 
been  here  at  the  seminary.    It  was  always  an  inspiration. 

"There  is  one  thing  above  all  others  which  they  taught, 
and  that  was  obedience.  I  doubt  if  in  the  history  of  this 
diocese,  since  these  good  men  came  here  to  teach  our 
priests,  there  has  ever  been  an  appeal  to  Rome  by  a  priest 
from  his  Bishop." 

^•A    fellow    student   to   whom   Gibbons   had  become    attached    at   St. 
Charles. 
"  Records  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary. 


42  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Deep  shadows  were  drawing  over  the  country  in  the 
closing  years  of  Gibbons'  stay  at  the  seminary.  In  their 
brief  periods  devoted  to  general  conversation,  the  stu- 
dents had  anxiously  discussed  the  exciting  events  of  the 
time — the  John  Brown  raid,  the  fugitive  slave  riots  and 
the  formation  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  Blood  was 
already  being  shed  in  the  Civil  War  when  the  young 
priest  was  ordained.  His  associations  and  sympathies 
were  with  the  Southern  people,  among  whom  he  had 
lived,  but  his  judgment  opposed  secession  as  a  political 
step.  He  remained  a  Union  man  to  the  end,  though 
taking  no  part  by  word  or  deed  in  the  struggle  that  was 
rending  his  unhappy  country.  His  not  to  draw  the 
sword,  but  to  preach  peace  and  mercy;  not  to  stir  the 
passions  of  men,  but  to  point  them  to  the  example  of 
their  Divine  Master.  He  had  chosen  his  path;  where 
the  Cross  led,  he  would  follow. 


CHAPTER  III 

AN  ADVENTUROUS  PASTORATE 

Stimulated  by  the  plaudits  of  his  preceptors  at  the 
seminary,  Father  Gibbons  was  sent  to  do  his  first  work 
as  a  priest  at  Fell's  Point,  Baltimore,  then  a  brawling  out- 
post of  the  Patapsco  river  front.  Rough  men  from  many 
ports  jostled  one  another  in  its  sailor  boarding  houses 
and  infested  its  squalid  drinking  places.  Mingled  with 
honest  but  for  the  most  part  unlettered  wanderers,  who 
followed  the  life  before  the  mast  or  in  the  engine  room 
with  no  other  lure  than  adventure,  were  wastrels  of  dis- 
sipation who,  by  an  abhorrent  custom  of  the  time,  had 
been  dragged  half -stupefied  from  dens  of  vice  by  desper- 
ate captains  to  complete  their  crews.  There  were  also 
fugitives  from  the  law  who  found  safety  in  sea-roving 
in  those  days  before  cables  and  the  progress  of  diplomacy 
had  made  extradition  generally  enforceable.  With  such 
strata  in  sailor  life,  were  reckless  and  often  unfortunate 
stragglers  from  the  fringe  of  Baltimore's  population,  who 
manned  the  oyster  boats  of  the  Chesapeake,  on  the  win- 
try wastes  of  which  in  the  dredging  season  there  was  no 
authority  but  the  ruthless  will  of  the  captains. 

In  the  rude  stories  which  spiced  the  shore  liberty  of 
these  men  were  echoes  of  pirate  days  not  long  gone  by, 
and  of  privateer  battles  for  treasure,  in  which  much  blood 
had  been  spilled  in  the  early  part  of  the  century.    Many 

43 


44*  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of  them  had  sailed  when  the  swivel  gun.  in  the  bow  was 
always  kept  loaded  for  action,  and  only  a  few  years  be- 
fore there  had  been  a  general  discarding  of  those  waspish 
weapons.  Some  of  the  guns  had  been  hastily  tossed  over- 
board, under  duress  of  the  port  authorities,  in  the  deep 
water  at  Fell's  Point,  where  they  have  since  been  recov- 
ered as  historical  relics. 

Further  back  from  the  irregular  line  of  crowded 
wharves,  but  still  embraced  in  the  district  of  the  Point, 
were  the  homes  of  honest  and  peaceful  folk  who  shud- 
dered at  the  turbulent  scenes  which  they  were  sometimes 
forced  to  witness.  They  were  chiefly  small  merchants 
and  industrious  mechanics,  identified  with  the  best  in  the 
sturdy  life  of  the  growing  city.  Among  their  neat  dwell- 
ings rose  the  tall  spire  of  St.  Patrick's  Church,  whose 
Cross  bespoke  help  and  mercy  alike  to  them  and  to  the 
restless  and  wayward  spirits  who  surged  in  the  streets 
closer  to  the  river. 

It  was  to  this  church  that  Father  Gibbons  was  sent 
as  assistant  to  the  Rev.  James  Dolan,  who  was  called 
"The  Apostle  of  the  Point."  Father  Dolan  fitted  into 
his  surroundings  as  one  chosen  by  Providence.  Stouter 
than  the  oak  timbers  in  the  ships  swinging  at  anchor 
near-by  was  the  soul  of  this  priest,  who  hesitated  not,  by 
night  or  day,  in  storm  or  sunshine,  to  carry  his  message 
of  salvation  to  the  gentlest  or  the  most  sodden  within 
his  parish.  He  was  ready  to  hear  with  pity  the  death- 
bed tales  of  men  to  whom  came  memories  of  Christian 
homes  and  peaceful  green  fields  in  distant  lands,  which, 
in  the  hour  of  dissolution,  swept  back  over  them,  blotting 
out  the  years  in  which  they  had  scoffed  at  the  better 


AN  ADVENTUROUS  PASTORATE  45 

things  of  life.  If  a  letter  were  to  be  written  to  aged  par- 
ents or  perhaps  wife  and  children  of  those  remote  days, 
bringing  a  grateful  message  of  love  and  repentance  from 
one  long  absent,  the  priest  was  ready  for  the  task.  No 
obstacle  appalled  him.  He  was  fearless  in  entering 
rooms  rank  with  the  odors  of  stale  drink  to  care  for  men 
stricken  with  the  multitude  of  diseases  which  the  winds 
of  the  sea  waft  from  port  to  port  on  the  ships  that  link 
the  commerce  of  the  world. 

One  Sunday  morning  in  July,  1861,  the  parishioners 
of  St.  Patrick's  saw  within  the  sanctuary,  beside  the  fa- 
miliar form  of  their  rugged  and  great-hearted  shepherd, 
a  young  priest,  lightly  built,  yet  graceful  and  well-pro- 
portioned, of  medium  height,  with  a  strong  face  and  a 
large,  firm  mouth,  softened  by  a  singularly  sweet  and 
winning  expression.  When  he  spoke  his  voice  was  clear, 
almost  perfectly  toned  and  musical,  like  the  notes  of  a 
silver  bell,  and  reached  easily  to  the  furthest  recesses 
of  the  church.  The  fascination  of  his  manner  won  the 
hearts  of  all. 

On  that  day  he  was  introduced  to  the  members  of  the 
congregation  as  Father  Gibbons,  newly  appointed  to  help 
in  the  work  of  the  parish.^  The  tidings  passed  around, 
with  a  background  of  half  quizzical  inquiry,  "Father 
Dolan  has  another  assistant,"  for  his  people  knew  that 
several  young  priests  had  been  sent  to  help  the  pastor 
within  a  short  period  of  years  and  that,  one  by  one,  they 
had  vanished. 

^Mr.  John  Malloy  of  Baltimore,  who  survived  to  a  venerable  age. 
recalled  distinctly  the  brief  period  of  Father  Gibbons'  life  when  he  was 
stationed  at  St.  Patrick's,  and  the  impression  he  P^°duced  on  the  con- 
gregation,  of  which  Mr.  Malloy  was  a  member  at  the  time.  Some 
of  his  recollections  have  been  incorporated  m  this  chapter. 


46  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

In  truth,  the  "Apostle  of  the  Point"  was  so  weighted 
with  a  sense  of  the  especial  needs  of  the  work  which 
lay  at  his  hand  that  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  entrust 
any  important  part  of  it  to  others.  If  there  was  a  sick 
call,  he  himself  must  go;  if  a  confession,  he  must  hear  it; 
if  a  funeral  service,  he  must  perform  it  and  share  in  the 
sorrow  of  the  bereft;  if  a  wedding,  he  must  celebrate 
it  and  join  in  the  felicitations  of  the  parishioners  who 
might  be  concerned.  He  felt  that,  more  than  any  one 
else,  he  knew  his  people,  their  unvoiced  needs  and  the 
means  of  opening  their  hearts  to  the  ministrations  of 
Christianity  which  experience  had  impressed  upon  him. 
Archbishop  Kenrick  had  long  sympathized  with  the 
heavy  burdens  which  Father  Dolan  took  upon  himself 
and  repeatedly  urged  him  to  avail  himself  of  an  assist- 
ant, but  he  continued  unwilling  to  lean  upon  the  help  of 
a  younger  man,  unfamiliar  with  the  currents  of  life  that 
surged  round  his  picturesque  field  of  labor. 

Father  Gibbons,  for  all  his  tact  and  submissiveness, 
was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  He  began  the  work  at 
Fell's  Point  with  as  much  activity  as  Father  Dolan  would 
sanction  but  he  soon  saw  that  he  was  to  have  as  little  real 
share  in  it  as  his  predecessors.  Seven  years  before  that 
time  Father  Dolan,  in  his  missionary  zeal,  had  built  a 
little  church  on  the  edge  of  the  city's  eastern  boundary, 
in  a  district  called  Canton,  and  named  it  St.  Bridget's, 
after  the  patron  saint  of  his  mother,  who  was  also  the 
patron  saint  of  Father  Gibbons'  mother.  It  was  still 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  St.  Patrick's  parish,  and  Father 
Gibbons  had  not  been  ordained  more  than  six  weeks 
when  Father  Dolan  sent  him  there  to  stay,  saying  in  his 


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AN  ADVENTUROUS  PASTORATE  47 

blunt  way :  "Canton  is  a  good  school  for  a  young  priest." 
Toward  the  end  of  1861,  Gibbons  was  made  full  pastor 
of  St.  Bridget's  by  Archbishop  Kenrick  and  began  in  an 
independent  field  the  only  work  as  a  parish  priest  which 
he  was  destined  to  do. 

The  church  stood  on  what  was  then  called  Canton 
Lane,  in  a  lonely  place,  surrounded  by  a  wide  expanse 
of  farms  and  market  gardens.  Only  one  dwelling — that 
of  Mrs.  Bridget  Smyth,  a  devoted  member  of  the  con- 
gregation, four  of  whose  grandsons  became  priests — was 
near.  There  was  no  rectory  and  Father  Gibbons  took  up 
his  residence  jn  a  few  small  rooms  built  against  one  end 
of  the  church,  lacking  in  light  and  ventilation,  the  boards 
of  the  floor  touching  the  ground. 

The  good  Mrs.  Smyth,  pitying  the  young  pastor  for  the 
hardships  which  he  faced,  sent  him  his  first  meal  on  the 
Saturday  evening  when  he  arrived  at  Canton  to  begin  his 
labors.^  She  cared  for  the  housekeeping  at  the  rectory 
for  some  time,  assisted  by  her  daughters,  and  as  a  further 
mark  of  her  solicitude  sent  one  of  her  sons  to  sleep  there 
every  night,  for  it  was  considered  dangerous  to  be  alone 
in  that  isolated  locality,  where  the  hand  of  the  law 
seemed  not  to  reach. 

The  sweetness  of  Father  Gibbons'  personal  ties,  which 
so  many  of  the  great  and  small  of  this  world  found  to  be 
one  of  his  most  striking  traits  in  his  fruitful  years  that 
were  to  follow,  had  already  become  bone  of  his  bone  and 
flesh  of  his  flesh;  and  gratitude  for  Mrs.  Smyth's  simple 
acts  of  kindness  remained  imprinted  upon  his  heart,  alike 

» Surviving  members  of  the  Smyth  family  were  the  authorities  for  a 
number   of   these   statements. 


48  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

in  the  forests  of  North  Carolina  and  the  stately  halls  of 
the  Vatican.  One  night  years  afterward,  attending  a 
fair  at  St.  Bridget's,  when  the  vivid  red  which  he  wore 
proclaimed  the  rank  to  which  he  had  risen,  he  asked  if 
any  one  named  Smyth  were  present.  A  little  girl  went 
forward  and  he  said: 

"When  I  came  to  this  parish  first,  your  grandmother 
was  good  to  me.  No  matter  where  any  of  her  people  may 
be,  I  am  always  glad  to  see  them.  Never  hesitate,  my 
child,  to  come  and  speak  to  me  whenever  you  wish.  Old 
memories  and  old  faces  bring  back  to  me  a  flood  of  recol- 
lections that  carry  with  them  a  great  deal  of  joy." 

The  neighborhood,  in  the  temper  of  the  times,  was  tur- 
bulent and  dangerous.  In  the  "Know  Nothing"  frenzy 
which  had  lately  passed,  lawless  groups  bearing  the  names 
of  "Blood  Tubs"  and  "Rough  Skins,"  inflamed  with 
hatred  for  foreigners,  had  terrorized  Canton,  seeking  to 
drive  from  the  polling  places  and  proscribe  from  all 
political  activity  those  who  dared  to  differ  from  them. 
The  first  of  the  "Blood  Tubs"  had  been  butchers  who 
carried  half -hogsheads  of  beef  blood  to  the  polls  and 
bespattered  with  the  contents  citizens  who  would  not 
vote  the  anti-foreign  ticket.  Their  circle  had  been 
swelled  by  other  elements  of  the  population  eager  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  savage  license  of  their  operations.  Alone 
of  all  the  American  states,  Maryland  had  been  carried  by 
the  "Know  Nothing"  party  in  a  general  election  ^  and 
though  it  soon  spumed  its  new  found  idols,  traces  re- 
mained of  the  violence  of  thought  and  action  with  which 
it  had  been  racked. 

'McSherry,  History  of  Maryland  (continued  by  James),  p.  352. 


AN  ADVENTUROUS  PASTORATE  49 

As  the  fury  of  the  movement  waned,  the  Civil  War, 
with  its  fierce  clashes  of  opinion  in  a  border  State,  rent 
the  city  into  two  hostile  camps.  Federal  troops  swarmed 
in  and  took  possession,  averting  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet  the  threatened  secession  of  Maryland.  Armed 
force  supplanted  civil  law  and  the  volunteer  soldiers, 
not  yet  trained  to  the  restrictions  of  discipline,  terrorized 
the  community.*  Cannon  frowned  upon  the  city  from 
a  chain  of  fortifications  which  were  hastily  thrown  up, 
one  of  which.  Fort  Marshall,  was  in  what  is  now  High- 
landtown,  within  the  boundaries  of  Father  Gibbons' 
parish. 

The  congregation  of  St.  Bridget's  was  small,  composed 
for  the  most  part  of  laboring  men  from  the  Canton  cop- 
per works  and  rolling  mills,  whose  daily  clang  of  ma- 
chinery broke  upon  the  peace  of  the  farms  and  market 
gardens.  A  number  of  the  neighboring  rural  families 
were  also  in  the  circle  of  worshipers.  Father  Gibbons, 
affable  then  as  always,  tireless  in  his  activity  despite  the 
frailty  of  the  flesh,  soon  came  to  know  every  member 
.of  his  flock  by  name.  Some  of  them  remained  his  friends 
and  familiars  for  generations,  and  his  smile  and  instant 
recognition  were  theirs  whenever  he  met  them.  Quickly 
he  came  to  acquire  an  intimate  knowledge  of  their  per- 
sonal affairs,  their  family  life,  their  material  hopes  and 
strivings.  The  powers  of  his  fast  ripening  mind  and 
the  poise  of  judgment  which  he  possessed  even  in  early 
manhood  were  ready  to  guide  them  in  the  affairs  of  this 
world  as  well  as  of  the  world  to  come. 

The  cnideness  of  the  living  conditions  to  which  he  was 

*  Scharf,  History  of  Baltimore  City  and  County,  p.  132. 


60  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

subjected  was  made  worse  by  his  own  act.  He  gave  up  a 
part  of  his  scanty  quarters  for  the  purposes  of  a  hall  for 
fairs,  meetings  and  other  church  uses,  leaving  only  a 
small  sleeping  room  which  he  could  call  his  own.  Re- 
turning at  night  from  pastoral  calls  while  a  meeting  was 
in  progress,  he  was  sometimes  compelled  to  pass  through 
the  group  of  parishioners  in  order  to  reach  this  room, 
saying  as  he  bade  them  a  smiling  good  night:  "I  must 
go  to  bed  now."  So  completely  did  he  discard  thought 
of  personal  comfort  that  he  established  a  parochial  school 
directly  above  his  room,  and  the  noise  of  the  trampling 
overhead  did  not  seem  to  diminish  his  satisfaction  that 
the  children  of  his  parish  were  thus  helped  to  start  well 
in  life  at  a  time  when  educational  facilities  in  Americ^ 
were  gravely  deficient. 

His  fertile  mind  continued  to  conceive  new  plans  and 
he  formed  the  project  of  building  a  brick  rectory  in  con- 
formity with  the  simple  architectural  style  of  the  church ; 
but  there  were  no  funds  for  the  purpose  and  the  resources 
of  the  little  congregation  were  far  from  sufficient  for 
the  task.  Nothing  daunted,  the  young  pastor  decided  to 
obtain  a  large  building  in  the  center  of  the  city  for  a 
fair  to  raise  money  and  applied  to  the  lessee  of  Carroll 
Hall,  a  place  in  which  many  large  public  assemblies  were 
held  in  those  days.  To  his  surprise,  he  found  the  lessee 
by  no  means  inclined  to  grant  the  application,  but  he 
explained  and  pleaded  and  at  length  obtained  what  he 
desired,  besides  ample  apologies  for  what  had  seemed 
to  be  discourtesy.  A  few  words  explained  all :  "I  thought 
you  were  a  Yankee,"  said  the  stout-hearted  sympathizer 
with  the  Confederacy. 


AN  ADVENTUROUS  PASTORATE  51 

Thus  tightly  were  the  lines  of  the  conflict  drawn  in 
Baltimore,  not  only  in  political  and  business  affairs,  but 
even  in  the  home  circle,  where  the  strongest  ties  of  affec- 
tion were  sometimes  transformed  into  the  estrangements 
of  years.  So  intense  was  the  war  feeling  that  part  of 
the  congregation  of  the  Cathedral  left  on  several  occa- 
sions when  the  prayer  for  the  authorities  was  said.  This 
prayer  had  been  framed  by  Archbishop  Carroll  and 
among  other  things,  besought  that  the  people  might  be 
"preserved  in  union,"  which  by  no  means  accorded  with 
the  views  of  the  secessionists. 

Gibbons  wrote  of  this  at  a  later  period : 

*T  can  very  well  remember  a  painful  experience  which 
the  Archbishop  (Kenrick)  went  through  during  the  first 
year  of  the  war.  We  have  a  prayer  in  America  composed 
by  Archbishop  Carroll  for  all  estates  of  men  in  the 
Church  of  God,  and  it  was  the  Archbishop's  custom  to 
have  this  prayer  read  publicly  before  Mass  in  the  ver- 
nacular, especially  in  the  Cathedral  Church  where,  by 
the  way,  it  is  still  read.  In  this  prayer  there  is  a  petition 
that  the  union  of  the  American  people  may  be  preserved ; 
and  when  the  Southern  states  began  to  secede,  so  high 
did  secession  sentiment  run  in  Baltimore  that  some  of 
the  clergy  begged  him  to  omit  the  prayer  in  which  the 
objectionable  petition  found  its  place. 

"At  last,  when  all  the  clergy  of  the  Cathedral  had 
begged  to  be  excused,  the  Archbishop  determined  to  read 
it  himself,  and  I  suppose  that  during  the  reading  of  that 
prayer  he  suffered  more  than  one  could  well  imagme; 
for  when  he  mentioned  the  Union  of  the  States,  many 
people  got  up  and  publicly  left  the  Cathedral,  and  those 
who  remained  expressed  their  dissent  from  the  Arch- 
bishop's petition  by  a  great  rustling  of  papers  and  silks. 


62  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 


/■ 


\ 


,  "It  was  from  his  Grace  that  I  imbibed  a  strong  at- 
'  tachment  to  the  Union.  I  had  been  born  a  Southerner 
and  brought  up  a  Southerner  and  my  heart  was,  of 
course,  with  the  Southern  states.  Indeed,  my  brother 
was  actually  fighting  in  the  army  of  the  Confederacy; 
but  I  could  never  believe  that  secession  would  succeed 
and  even  if  it  should  succeed  I  could  not  help  but  see  that 
it  would  be  the  destruction  of  what  was  already  a  grow- 
ing and  what  might  become  a  very  great  nation.  There- 
\  fore  my  head  was  always  with  the  Union."  ^ 

The  fair  at  Carroll  Hall  and  others  held  for  the  same 
purpose  were  so  successful  that  a  well  constructed  brick 
rectory  soon  rose  beside  the  church  at  Canton,  with 
scarcely  any  direct  cost  to  the  congregation.  The  young 
pastor  used  all  his  resources  in  stimulating  these  efforts. 
One  summer  in  the  course  of  a  visit  to  New  Orleans  to 
see  his  mother  she  gave  him  a  gold  watch  to  take  the 
place  of  a  silver  one  which  had  been  a  gift  to  him  from 
his  sister  while  he  was  in  college.  When  he  returned  to 
St.  Bridget's,  the  silver  watch  was  contributed  to  the 
money  raising  project  and  a  considerable  sum  was 
realized  by  disposing  of  it.  The  parishioner  who  ob- 
tained it  treasured  it  throughout  his  life  and  when  he 
was  far  advanced  in  years  it  was  an  open  sesame  to  an 
audience  with  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 

Soft  berths  were  not  for  newly  ordained  priests  of 
the  Catholic  Church  in  those  days  any  more  than  they 
are  now.  The  number  of  the  clergy  was  far  below  the 
requirements  and  the  sacrifices  pledged  in  ordination 
vows  were  exacted  to  the  point  of  literal  fulfilment. 

"  "My    Memories,"    Cardinal    Gibbons    in    the    Dublin    Revieiu,   April> 
1917. 


AN  ADVENTUROUS  PASTORATE  53 

Soon  after  Father  Gibbons  went  to  Canton,  Archbishop 
Kenrick  directed  him  to  take  charge  also  of  St.  Law- 
rence's Church,  since  renamed  for  Our  Lady  of  Good 
Counsel,  on  Locust  Point,  a  mile  across  the  Patapsco 
from  St.  Bridget's.     Every  Sunday  morning,  in  mid- 
winter snows  no  less  than  in  the  zephyrs  of  summer,  he 
was  accustomed  to  leave  Canton  at  six  o'clock  for  his 
double  task  of  the  day.    He  was  rowed  in  a  skiff  across 
to  Locust  Point,  heard  confessions  at  St.  Lawrence's, 
said  Mass,  preached,  baptized  and  attended  sick  calls; 
then  recrossed  the  river  to  Canton,  where  he  celebrated 
high  Mass  at  half  past  ten  o'clock  and  preached  again. 
In  storm  and  cold,  his  kind-hearted  housekeeper  used 
to  bundle  him  up  for  the  journey  and  tie  her  shawl  over 
his  head,  but  many  of  these  trips  meant  keen  suffering 
for  him.    Sometimes,  when  the  river  was  impassable  be- 
cause of  ice,  he  traveled  to  St.  Lawrence's  in  a  sleigh  or 
carriage,  crossing  at  the  head  of  the  harbor  of  Baltimore 
by  way  of  Light  Street,  several  miles  west  of  Canton. 
As  no  Catholic  clergyman  may  celebrate  Mass  except 
while  fasting,  it  was  generally  about  one  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  when,   after  a  morning's   arduous  labor,  he 
could  eat.     His  digestion  was  permanently  wrecked  by 
this  ordeal,  which  compelled  him  to  observe  great  care 
in  diet  throughout  his  life.    He  used  to  say:  "It  killed 

my  stomach." 

The  fatigues  and  hardships  which  he  endured  soon 
caused  a  general  collapse  of  his  health.  To  his  parish- 
ioners, as  one  of  them  recalled  it,  he  seemed  to  be  "gomg 
all  the  time."  Some  of  them  expressed  the  opinion  that 
he   -could  not   live   two  months."     Tuberculosis  was 


64  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

suspected ;  but  one  day  he  returned  from  an  examination 
by  his  physician  and  joyfully  announced  that  his  lungs 
were  sound.^ 

Natural  inclination  developed  in  earlier  years  had 
made  him  a  pedestrian  and  the  large  area  of  his  parish, 
in  which  there  were  no  public  conveyances  at  the  time, 
compelled  him  to  tramp  over  the  lonely  roads  on  many 
of  his  pastoral  visits.  His  habit  of  taking  long  walks 
continued  throughout  his  life  and  was  perhaps  the  most 
potent  means  of  sustaining  him  in  his  manifold  and  pro- 
longed activities,  the  endurance  of  which  so  often  caused 
amazement  in  others.  No  detail  of  the  field  was  too 
small  to  receive  his  painstaking  attention;  no  locality 
too  dangerous  to  be  penetrated  by  the  devoted  priest, 
bent  on  his  merciful  mission. 

His  already  trying  duties  in  the  care  of  two  congrega- 
tions were  augmented  considerably  in  labor  and  much 
more  in  stirring  adventure  by  service  as  volunteer  chap- 
Iain  at  two  of  the  principal  forts  in  Maryland.  Besides 
performing  ministrations  to  all  who  needed  him  at  Fort 
Marshall,  not  far  from  St.  Bridget's,  he  was  called  upon 
frequently  for  like  service  at  Fort  McHenry,  within  the 
boundaries  of  St.  Lawrence's  parish.  The  latter  fort, 
hallowed  by  memories  of  the  birth  of  the  "Star-Spangled 
Banner,"  became  early  in  the  war  the  principal  place  in 
Maryland  for  the  confinement  of  Confederate  prisoners. 
Father  Gibbons  ministered  to  Blue  and  Gray  alike,  often 


a  ■ 


Mr.  John  J.  Donnelly  and  Mrs.  Peter  Hagan,  members  of  St. 
Bridget's  Congregation,  1861-65,  who  lived  to  old  age,  recalled  dis- 
tinctly a  number  of  incidents  of  that  period  which  have  been  included 
in  this  work.  Traditions  linger  from  the  same  period,  which  have  been 
rejected  unless  confirmed. 


AN  ADVENTUROUS  PASTORATE  55 

under  circumstances  which  touched  his  deepest  human 
sympathies. 

A  case  which  moved  him  powerfully  was  that  of  John 
R.  H.  Embert,  a  Confederate  soldier,  who,  obtaining 
leave  to  visit  his  family  in  the  eastern  part  of  Maryland, 
was  arrested  as  a  spy  and  condemned  to  death.  As  the 
young  priest  became  familiar  with  the  circumstances  of 
this  instance  of  court-martial  injustice,  he  fervently 
hoped  that  some  way  might  be  found  to  avert  the  sen- 
tence. While  he  devoted  himself  to  prayer  for  the  de- 
liverance of  Embert,  the  sympathies  of  men  powerful 
in  civil  life  were  enlisted  by  others  in  an  effort  to  obtain 
a  revocation  by  higher  authorities.  Besides  Embert,  who 
was  a  Catholic  and  whose  spiritual  counselor  Father 
Gibbons  was,  two  others,  doomed  to  be  shot  after  con- 
viction of  the  same  offense,  were  in  the  fort  at  the  time. 
They  were  Samuel  B.  Hearn  and  Braxton  Lyon.  A 
fourth  prisoner  awaiting  execution  of  the  death  sentence 
there  was  William  H.  Rodgers,  said  to  have  been  a 

blockade  runner.'^ 

One  hope  after  another  failed  in  the  desperate  en- 
deavor to  obtain  clemency  for  Embert,  Hearn  and  Lyon, 
who  were  to  be  shot  immediately  after  twelve  o'clock 
Sunday  night,  August  29,  1864.  On  the  previous  night 
a  number  of  men  and  women  of  prominence  in  Baltimore 
went  to  the  home  of  John  S.  Gittings,  president  of  the 
Northern  Central  Railroad,  to  beseech  his  aid  in  savmg 
the  lives  of  the  three  men.  They  urged  Mr.  Gittmgs 
to  make  a  direct  appeal  to  President  Lincoln,  relymg 

^Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate  Armies   Series  2,  Vol. 
7,  pp.  792,  834.  1040,  1291;  Vol.  8.  pp.  87,  114,  "5,  132,  395,  436.  650. 


66  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

upon  the  fact  that  he  had  befriended  the  family  of  the 
President  when  the  latter,  hearing  rumors  of  a  plot  to 
assassinate  him,  traveled  to  Washington  by  a  circuitous 
route  in  1861  on  his  way  to  be  inaugurated. 

Lincoln,  in  the  course  of  the  journey,  had  left  his 
wife  and  children  at  Harrisburg,  proceeded  to  Philadel- 
phia by  special  train  and  there  boarded  the  regular  mid- 
night train  for  Washington.  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  her  three 
sons  had  continued  their  trip  according  to  the  original 
plan  over  the  Northern  Central  Road  from  Harrisburg 
to  Baltimore,  where  they  were  taken  to  the  home  of 
Mr.  Gittings  and  hospitably  entertained  until  they  could 
go  on  to  the  national  capital.  Though  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Gittings  had  extended  this  aid  to  the  Lincoln  family 
in  a  time  of  sore  need,  the  railroad  president  was  a 
staunch  Democrat  and  his  wife  was  an  ardent  Southern 
sympathizer,  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Ritchie,  a  distin- 
guished editor  of  Richmond,  Virginia. 

When  the  visitors  urged  him  to  implore  mercy  from 
Lincoln  in  behalf  of  the  three  men,  Mr.  Gittings  de- 
murred, saying  that  he  had  no  influence  with  the  Presi- 
dent and  that  in  any  event  it  was  probably  too  late  to 
intervene.  They  then  turned  to  Mrs.  Gittings,  whose 
womanly  heart  was  softened  by  their  pleas,  and  she  con- 
sented to  go  with  them  to  Washington. 

On  the  night  fixed  for  the  triple  execution,  the  party 
arrived  at  the  White  House.  Lincoln  had  already  re- 
tired, but  when  he  learned  that  Mrs.  Gittings  desired 
to  speak  with  him  he  came  down  a  darkened  stairway, 
holding  a  lighted  candle  high  above  his  tall  and  gaunt 
form.    Gravely  he  listened  to  her  pleading  and  replied : 


AN  ADVENTUROUS  PASTORATE  57 

"Madam,  I  owe  you  a  debt.  You  took  my  family 
into  your  home  in  the  midst  of  a  hostile  mob.  You  gave 
them  succor  and  helped  them  on  their  way.  That  debt 
has  never  been  paid,  and  I  am  glad  of  the  opportunity  to 
pay  it  now,  for  I  shall  save  the  lives  of  these  men." 

The  sentences  were  suspended  at  once  by  an  order 
which  reached  the  fort  such  a  short  time  before  midnight 
that  Father  Gibbons  had  already  arrived  to  prepare 
Embert  for  death.  None  joined  in  the  rejoicings  with 
greater  fervor  than  the  young  chaplain.  The  sentence  of 
Embert  was  afterward  commuted  to  imprisonment  in 
the  Albany  penitentiary  for  the  duration  of  the  war.® 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war,  when  Father  Gibbons 
had  been  transferred  to  the  Baltimore  Cathedral,  he 
was  surprised  to  receive  a  visit  from  Embert.  They 
exchanged  warm  greetings,  for  he  had  conceived  a  high 
admiration  for  the  young  soldier  who,  in  the  ordeal  at 
the  fort,  had  endured  with  a  calm  and  inspiring  courage. 
Their  mutual  salutations  were  scarcely  finished  before 
his  caller  said: 

"Father,  I  am  delighted  to  see  you  under  more  favor- 
able circumstances  than  confronted  us  at  Fort  McHenry. 
You  did  not  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  a  knot  tied 
around  my  neck  on  that  occasion  and  I  ask  you  now  to 
tie  a  more  pleasing  knot." 

He  had  come  to  be  married  and  Father  Gibbons  per- 
formed the  ceremony. 

One  of  the  prisoners  whom  the  young  priest  was  called 
to  attend  at  Fort  Marshall  was  found  to  be  in  a  des- 

» Cardinal  Gibbons'  recollections  of  these  facts  as  given  here  were 
supplemented  by  the  reminiscences  of  John  S  Gittmgs.  grandson  ot 
the  railroad  president  who  befriended  Lincoln's  family. 


68  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

perate  state  from  fever.  Father  Gibbons  heard  his  con- 
fession and  then  talked  to  the  man  of  his  life.  The 
soldier  had  run  away  from  home  and  his  mind  wandered 
back  to  his  early  associations. 

"Where  is  your  home*?"  asked  Father  Gibbons. 

"In  Ireland,"  was  the  reply. 

"What  part  of  Ireland'?"  the  priest  asked. 

"The  western  part,"  said  the  soldier. 

Father  Gibbons  at  length  found  that  he  was  from 
Ballinrobe  and  that  his  name  was  Conway. 

"Ah,"  he  remarked,  "then  you  know  the  pastor  of 
the  church  there  ^" 

"He  is  my  brother,"  the  soldier  answered. 

"You  are  Hal  Conway!"  exclaimed  Father  Gibbons, 
and  a  burst  of  recollection  came  over  him  as  he  saw  in 
the  sick  soldier  a  former  comrade  in  the  school  at  Ballin- 
robe which  he  had  attended. 

The  meeting  revived  Conway  in  a  marvelous  way  and 
his  recovery  began  almost  immediately.  The  priest  sent 
him  some  fruit  and  other  delicacies  and  continued  to 
take  a  warm  interest  in  him  until  his  cure  was  complete. 

Despite  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Union  sympathizer. 
Gibbons  was  sometimes  "harshly  treated,"  as  he  after- 
ward said,  by  the  military  authorities  at  the  forts  at 
which  he  served  as  chaplain.     He  wrote: 

"I  remember  that  on  one  occasion  after  having  heard 
the  confession  of  a  Southern  prisoner,  I  tried  to  get  him 
some  much  needed  nourishment  which  had  not  been  pro- 
vided for  him  by  the  doctor  of  the  hospital ;  and  for  this 
act,  by  which  I  tried  merely  to  help  a  suffering  fellow 
creature,  irrespective  of  his  politics,  I  was  told  that  my 


AN  ADVENTUROUS  PASTORATE  59 

services  would  be  no  longer  acceptable  at  the  fortress 
(McHenry)  and  that  I  need  not  return.  However,  I 
did  return,  since  I  threatened  to  make  known  to  the 
higher  authorities  what  had  taken  place;  and  men  who 
execute  martial  law  with  little  regard  for  the  feelings 
of  those  below  them  are  often  very  sensitive  as  to  the 
feelings  of  those  above  them."  ^ 

Father  Gibbons'  courage  was  repeatedly  tested  in  that 
trying  period.  Returning  to  St.  Bridget's  rectory  one 
night  after  attending  to  pastoral  duties,  he  found  a 
vagrant  soldier  sleeping  in  the  yard  and  started  to  arouse 
him.  The  soldier,  in  a  frenzy  of  rage  at  being  disturbed, 
leaped  to  his  feet,  seized  a  paling  from  a  broken  fence 
and  rushed  at  the  priest  with  the  fury  of  a  tiger.  Father 
Gibbons,  realizing  the  irresponsible  condition  of  the  man 
and  wishing  to  avoid  a  personal  encounter,  turned  and 
ran  toward  his  door,  but  soon  found  himself  trapped  in 
an  angle  formed  by  a  wall  and  the  fence  from  which 
there  was  no  escape. 

With  a  powerful  sweep  the  soldier  raised  the  club 
to  strike  him  a  murderous  blow,  when,  realizing  that  he 
must  defend  himself  quickly  if  at  all,  he  summoned  his 
strength,  knocked  the  man  down  and  thoroughly  sub- 
dued him.  When  the  soldier  came  to  his  senses  he 
realized  that  the  frail  young  man  in  priestly  dress  was 
more  than  his  match,  and  beat  a  precipitate  retreat. 

On  another  night,  arriving  at  his  rectory  after  col- 
lecting money  for  the  church.  Father  Gibbons  found  the 
housekeeper  outside  the  main  door  weeping  in  a  panic 
of  fear.     She  told  him  that  a  crazy  man  was  inside  who 

•  "My  Memories,"  Cardinal  Gibbons  in  the  Dublin  Review. 


60  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

had  taken  possession  of  the  premises  and  was  threaten- 
ing everybody.  Father  Gibbons,  undeterred  by  her  story, 
calmly  entered  the  building  and  found  that  the  tale 
was  not  overdrawn.  The  intruder  was  of  herculean  size 
and  was  raving,  a  menace  to  everybody  in  the  house  un- 
less he  could  be  subdued.  Father  Gibbons  found  no 
weapon  at  hand  but  an  umbrella,  with  which  he  be- 
labored the  man  to  such  good  effect  that  in  a  short  time 
he  forced  him  to  leave. 

Drunken  soldiers  were  a  danger  to  all  civilians  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  forts,  but  Father  Gibbons  was  never 
known  to  quail  before  them,  although  he  always  avoided 
a  conflict  when  he  could  do  so.  It  was  established  be- 
yond doubt  that  when  put  to  the  test  he  could  defend 
himself  against  any  one,  for  he  possessed  a  high  degree 
of  moral  courage  before  which  men  of  greater  physical 
prowess  retreated  in  dismay. 

Wherever  he  went  the  tragedies  of  war  confronted 
him,  sometimes  relieved  by  bright  incidents  that  seemed 
to  dawn  suddenly  out  of  darkness.  On  one  of  his  trips 
to  New  Orleans,  which  he  contrived  to  continue  at  in- 
tervals despite  the  terrific  struggle  for  the  possession  of 
the  Mississippi  River  that  was  in  progress,  he  became 
interested  in  Colonel  Luke  Blackburn,  a  soldier  in  a 
ragged  jacket  whom  he  met  on  a  steamboat.  There  was 
a  negro  nurse  on  the  same  boat  caring  for  a  baby.  On 
one  occasion  she  wished  to  get  a  drink  of  water  and  asked 
Colonel  Blackburn  if  he  would  hold  the  baby  while  she 
went  away  for  a  moment.  The  Colonel  obligingly  com- 
plied and  soon  he  and  the  infant  were  on  the  best  of 


AN  ADVENTUROUS  PASTORATE  61 

terms.  The  baby  pulled  his  beard  and  played  with  him 
in  glee.    When  the  nurse  returned,  the  Colonel  asked : 

"Whose  baby  is  this^' 

"Massa  Blackburn's  baby,"  she  answered. 

"Which  Master  Blackburn's^" 

"Massa  Luke  Blackburn's." 

It  was  the  soldier's  own  child,  born  soon  after  he  had 
started  for  the  war.  To  his  intense  joy  he  learned  that 
his  wife  was  also  on  the  boat,  having  come  to  meet  him 
with  the  baby,  upon  whose  countenance,  reflecting  some 
of  his  own  features,  he  had  never  before  looked.  There 
was  a  reunion  in  the  felicitations  of  which  the  future 
Cardinal  shared. 

On  the  night  of  Good  Friday,  April  14,  1865,  Father 
Gibbons  was  preaching  in  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Balti- 
more. His  topic  was  the  crucifixion,  and  he  dwelt  upon 
the  ingratitude  shown  by  Judas.  With  one  of  those 
apt  similes  which  were  characteristic  of  the  style  of  his 
sermons,  he  applied  the  lesson  to  possible  contemporary 
conditions,  developing  his  theme  on  these  lines: 

"Imagine  a  great  and  good  ruler,  who  had  done  every- 
thing to  deserve  the  confidence  and  affection  of  his  sub- 
jects, and  who  had  lived  only  for  his  country  and  had 
no  desire  but  for  his  country's  good— imagine  such  a 
ruler  struck  down  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin!  Would 
you  not  feel,  my  brethren,  a  deep  indignation  at  his 
murder*?" 

A  short  time  after  the  congregation  had  been  dis- 
missed, the  streets  were  filled  with  scurrying  people  and 
from  lip  to  lip  passed  the  fateful  bulletin:   "Lincoln  has 


62  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

been  shot!"  In  the  light  of  the  tragedy  which  startled 
the  world,  the  words  of  Father  Gibbons  took  on  a  strange 
significance. 

That  night  there  was  a  great  commotion  in  Baltimore, 
intensified  by  the  fact  that  the  city  was  the  home  of  the 
Booth  family,  of  which  the  assassin  was  a  member.  A 
week  later  the  body  of  the  murdered  President  was 
brought  to  the  city  and  Father  Gibbons  with  some  of  the 
other  clergy  marched  in  the  procession  which  escorted  it 
to  the  rotunda  of  the  Exchange,  where  it  lay  in  state.^^ 

The  young  priest's  heart  had  bled  for  the  agonies  of 
the  helpless  which  are  always  the  fruit  of  war,  no  matter 
what  the  issue  to  be  decided,  nor  under  what  flag  the 
sword  be  unsheathed ;  and  now  it  bled  for  the  sufferings 
that  followed  as  the  wounds  left  by  the  conflict  were 
slowly  healed. 

*"  Scharf,  Chronicles  of  Baltimore,  p.  634. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  PATH  OF  PROMOTION 

A  decision  formed  after  a  sleepless  night  passed  in 
a  tempest  of  doubts  in  his  isolated  suburban  rectory  at 
Canton  fixed  the  future  of  Father  Gibbons.  Surrounded 
by  darkness  and  solitude  whose  peace  contrasted  with 
his  own  feverish  thoughts,  he  attached  to  the  resolution 
which  was  taking  shape  in  his  mind  no  more  importance 
than  might  belong  to  an  obscure  priest's  conception  of 
his  duty;  but  as  the  part  for  which  he  was  cast  in  life  was 
revealed  by  the  passage  of  years  his  thoughts  often 
wandered  back  to  those  troubled  hours  in  June,  1865, 
when  he  struggled  to  decide  whether  or  not  to  accept  a 
call  from  Archbishop  Spalding  to  become  his  secretary 
and  thus  to  give  up  the  pastoral  care  of  the  flock  at  St. 
Bridget's. 

The  deeper  chords  of  the  young  priest's  nature  were 
touched  as  perhaps  they  had  never  been  touched  before. 
Other  faithful  men  recently  out  of  the  seminary  like 
himself  might  have  seen  in  the  call  nothing  beyond  a 
welcome  promotion  which  was  likely  to  open  a  much 
larger  scope  of  usefulness  and  influence;  but  to  him  it 
meant  the  turning  away  from  a  humble  field  of  labor 
in  which  he  would  have  been  fully  content  to  remain 
indefinitely. 

It  appears  clear  that  he  had  expected  nothing  else 

63 


64  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

than  to  devote  his  life  to  pastoral  work;  he  had  not  cared 
to  make  the  ways  of  ecclesiastical  ambition  his  ways. 
Besides,  he  felt  in  the  ties  that  he  had  formed  with  the 
simple  folk  whom  he  served  a  personal  force  to  which 
most  men  would  have  been  strangers.  The  thought  that 
these  people  might  become  lesser  objects  of  his  solicitude 
or  that  he  could  allow  them  to  pass  even  partly  from 
the  circle  of  his  intimate  affections  was  abhorrent  to  him. 

So  it  came  that  when  the  Archbishop's  summons 
reached  him  he  was  plunged  at  once  into  the  depths  of  a 
racking  perplexity.  As  he  recollected  his  own  emotions 
afterward,  he  thought  well  of  the  prospect  at  first  and 
was  a  little  elated  at  the  compliment.  Soon  this  was 
succeeded  by  feelings  which  he  described  as  homesickness 
and  which  rapidly  ran  down  the  scale  of  depression.  The 
people  of  Canton  whom  he  served  were  very  poor,  but 
thoroughly  receptive  to  the  ministrations  of  the  Church. 
In  a  burst  of  youthful  sentiment  he  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  he  could  not  desert  them.  Spurred  by  the  im- 
pulses thus  aroused,  he  went  post-haste  to  see  the  Very 
Rev.  Henry  G.  Coskery,  Vicar  General  of  the  diocese, 
and  some  of  the  other  superior  clergy,  begging  them  to 
exert  their  influence  with  the  Archbishop  to  permit  him 
to  remain  at  St.  Bridget's. 

He  unburdened  his  heart  with  these  eager  petitions  on 
a  Saturday.  Returning  to  his  rectory  in  the  evening,  an- 
other flood  of  emotion  swept  over  him,  and  he  became, 
as  he  described  it,  "full  of  remorse."    He  pondered: 

"Am  I  to  carry  out  my  own  desires  or  to  work  as  duty 
calls?  Am  I  setting  a  good  example  of  obedience  and 
sacrifice  by  insisting  upon  remaining  here  when  I  am 


THE  PATH  OF  PROMOTION  66 

summoned  elsewhere  by  my  ecclesiastical  superiors?  If 
this  wish  be  gratified,  I  will  be  disappointed  later  for 
not  obeying;  I  will  realize  that  my  field  of  labor  is  chosen 
by  myself,  of  my  own  desire,  and  not  in  submission  to 
the  call  of  duty." 

Pacing  his  room  or  tossing  upon  his  bed  throughout 
the  night,  he  sought  in  vain  through  weary  hours  for 
light.  At  length  his  mind  was  gradually  calmed  and  its 
confusion  was  lost  in  the  harmony  of  a  clear  vision  of 
the  part  that  must  be  his.  Rising  early  in  the  morning, 
he  wrote  a  letter  to  Father  Coskery  retracting  his  previous 
appeal  and  declaring  that  he  was  ready  with  complete 
submission  to  obey  the  wish  of  the  Archbishop.  He  gave 
this  letter  to  a  young  student  who  was  with  him  at  the 
rectory  to  deliver  to  the  Vicar  General,  and  entered  with 
a  new  peace  upon  the  priestly  labors  of  the  Sunday  which 
dawned. 

Years  afterward  he  would  sometimes  tell  this  story 
to  young  priests  upon  whom,  faced  by  doubts  such  as 
his,  it  exerted  a  profound  impression.  He  used  to  tell 
them  that  never  would  he  forget  the  absolute  misery 
which  came  over  him  in  the  darkness  of  that  night.  His 
whole  life  might  have  been— probably  would  have  been 
— changed  if  he  had  remained  at  Canton;  as  he  remarked 
when  he  was  nearly  eighty  years  old :  "I  might  have  been 
there  yet."  He  felt  that  the  ordeal  had  meant  for  him 
a  revelation  of  the  mysterious  working  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence directly  guiding  the  affairs  of  men,  in  which  he 
firmly  believed  through  every  vicissitude  to  the  end  of 

his  days  on  earth. 

The  people  of  St.  Bridget's  were  as  unwilling  to  part 


66  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

from  the  young  priest  as  he  had  been  to  part  from  them. 
A  committee  waited  on  Archbishop  Spalding  to  beseech 
that  he  might  be  retained,  setting  forth  in  simple,  heart- 
felt eulogy  that  his  work  there  had  been  a  means  of 
blessing  to  all  of  them  and  that  he  was  especially  fitted 
to  minister  to  their  spiritual  needs.  The  discriminating 
Archbishop  replied: 

"Children,  he  is  too  enlightened  for  me  to  leave  at 
Canton.    I  want  him  near  me." 

Thus  their  efforts  failed. 

The  position  of  secretary  to  the  Archbishop  of  Balti- 
more is  traditionally  a  stepping  stone  to  promotion  in 
the  Church.  It  was  then  differentiated  from  all  posts  of 
corresponding  rank  in  other  dioceses  by  the  fact  that  the 
head  of  the  Primatial  See  in  the  days  before  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Papal  Delegate  in  the  United  States  was  to  a 
great  extent  the  representative  and  spokesman  of  the 
Supreme  Pontiff  in  the  country  as  a  whole.  To  him  were 
addressed  all  general  communications  from  the  Vatican 
to  the  Hierarchy  of  America,  and  he  received  commis- 
sions to  act  for  the  Pope  in  the  adjustment  of  contro- 
versies and  the  administration  of  corrective  measures. 
Through  his  reports  Rome  learned  in  large  part  of  the 
operations  and  progress  of  the  Church  in  America  and 
of  the  numerous  problems,  some  of  them  calling  for  the 
exercise  of  the  greatest  prudence  and  wisdom,  which 
originated  within  this  jurisdiction. 

The  duties  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  were  thus 
greater  both  in  importance  and  volume  than  those  of 
any  of  his  brethren  of  the  same  rank  in  America.  His 
secretary,  through  whom  the  mass  of  his  business  passed, 


THE  PATH  OF  PROMOTION  67 

was  far  irom  being  only  a  transcriber  of  the  extensive 
correspondence  which  had  to  be  kept  up.  While  the 
head  of  the  See  dictated  the  correspondence  and  docu- 
ments that  were  considered  vital,  or  wrote  many  of  them 
with  his  own  hand,  as  the  archives  of  the  diocese  show,  he 
entrusted  to  his  secretary  the  framing  of  lesser  communi- 
cations of  importance  which  involved  wide  knowledge  of 
Church  conditions,  canon  law  and  general  policies.  Some 
of  those  who  filled  the  position  of  secretary  rose  to 
bishoprics;  others  to  positions  in  the  Church  only  a  little 
less  high. 

Archbishop  Spalding  was  in  feeble  health  in  1865, 
having  suffered  for  many  years  from  a  severe  bronchial 
and  gastric  affection.  The  Second  Plenary  Council  of 
Baltimore  was  near  at  hand  and  he  needed  as  secretary 
a  priest  upon  whom  he  could  lean  far  more  than  usual. 
Thus  he  came  to  make  requisition  for  the  young  man 
whose  winning  personality  he  first  had  an  opportunity 
to  observe  in  the  visit  which  young  Gibbons  paid  to  him 
in  Louisville  when  a  student,  and  whose  gifts  of  mind 
and  character  as  exhibited  in  the  minor  field  at  Canton 
had  produced  a  strong  impression  upon  him. 

The  judgment  of  Archbishop  Spalding  was  confirmed 
by  a  few  weeks'  contact  with  Father  Gibbons  in  his 
household.  The  man  whom  he  needed  and  desired  had 
been  found — one  upon  whom,  in  the  exacting  labor  which 
he  could  not  forego  in  his  declining  years,  he  could  de- 
pend for  help,  both  as  to  the  largest  tasks  and  the 
smallest. 

Between  these  two,  widely  separated  by  age  and  rank, 
there  sprang  up  the  closest  ties.     "My  relations  with 


68  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

him  were  of  a  most  intimate  and  affectionate  nature," 
said  Gibbons  of  the  Archbishop.  "I  reverenced  him  as  a 
father;  and  he  deigned  to  honor  me  as  a  son."^ 

Archbishop  Spalding  and  his  successor  in  the  See, 
Archbishop  Bayley,  were  chiefly  instrumental  in  recog- 
nizing the  remarkable  gifts  of  Gibbons  and  obtaining 
his  advancement  in  the  Church  to  positions  in  which  those 
gifts  would  be  most  useful.  Both  were  keen  judges  of 
character  and  their  vision  penetrated  the  screen  which 
the  young  priest's  modesty  threw  around  himself.  In 
manner  no  one  could  exhibit  greater  simplicity  than  he. 
He  sought  to  impress  none  by  an  appearance  of  either 
mental  profundity  or  especial  energy.  In  the  presence 
of  churchmen  older  than  himself,  he  was  accustomed  to 
preserve  a  respectful  silence  upon  important  matters. 
Whatever  task  came  to  hand  he  did  with  all  his  might, 
but  his  aims,  so  far  as  any  one  could  observe  at 
that  stage  of  his  career,  did  not  range  far  into  the 
future. 

It  was  difficult  then  for  a  man  of  average  mental 
processes  and  powers  to  take  the  true  measure  of  Gibbons, 
just  as  it  was  when  he  was  at  school  and  even  when  he 
became  a  prince  of  the  Church.  He  avoided  the  man- 
nerisms with  which  most  men  display  their  capacities  of 
varying  degrees.  Appearing  not  to  value  himself  above 
the  ordinary,  persons  of  a  limited  range  of  perception 
were  inclined  to  take  him  at  that  estimate.  He  could 
seem  to  the  lowly  as  one  of  them  and  yet  men  in  high 
places  thought  him  worthy  to  sit  with  them  as  an  equal, 

*  Discourse    of   Bishop    Gibbons    in    the    Baltimore    Cathedral    at    the 
Month's  Mind  service  for  Archbishop  Spalding,  March  7,  187a, 


THE  PATH  OF  PROMOTION  69 

if  not  a  superior.    His  dawning  individuality  was  rather 
baffling  to  many  persons. 

Archbishop  Spalding  valued  the  young  secretary's 
simplicity  of  character  as  well  as  his  intellect.  He  found 
Gibbons  not  only  alert,  responsive  and  indefatigable  in 
the  performance  of  his  duties,  but  a  devoted  companion 
whose  vivacity  cheered  the  venerable  prelate.  In  his 
physical  feebleness  he  needed  some  one  to  accompany 
him  on  the  trips  to  health  resorts  which  his  failing  powers 
required  at  intervals,  and  he  found  in  his  secretary  one 
whose  association  pleased  him  in  this  as  in  every  other 
relation. 

The  Archbishop  wished  Gibbons  to  speak  to  him  on 
all  subjects  with  complete  frankness,  valuing  the  sin- 
cerity which  evidently  inspired  his  companion,  the  youth- 
ful freshness  of  an  open  mind  and  the  keen  judgment 
of  men  and  things  obtained  by  contact  with  persons  in 
all  walks  of  life.  Gibbons  fell  in  with  the  mood  of  his 
superior.  There  was,  in  fact,  a  bond  of  congeniality  be- 
tween them  which  is  seldom  seen  between  individuals 
anywhere.  When  he  had  become  Cardinal,  the  secretary 
of  those  days  recalled  as  one  of  the  most  pleasant  parts 
of  his  life  the  period  passed  in  Spalding's  household,  and 
the  informality  of  his  relations  with  that  prelate,  with 
whom,  he  used  to  say,  "I  was  rather  free." 

Among  the  resorts  which  they  visited  in  summer  were 
White  Sulphur  Springs,  West  Virginia,  and  Sharon 
Springs,  New  York.  Although  the  Archbishop  was 
accustomed  to  relax  his  overstrained  energies  there,  he 
never  failed  to  perform  the  ministrations  of  religion  for 
others  during  his  stay.    Father  Gibbons  said  of  him: 


70  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"On  visiting  one  of  the  mountain  springs  or  the  sea- 
shore, his  first  inquiry  was  whether  the  neighborhood 
contained  a  church  or  chapel  and  a  stationary  priest. 
Otherwise  he  made  provision  at  once  for  Sunday  services 
to  be  held  in  an  apartment  of  the  hotel.  He  almost  in- 
variably preached,  and  the  fame  of  his  name  was  always 
sure  to  enlist  a  large  and  enlightened  congregation. 

"On  the  last  of  these  occasions  when  I  was  with  the 
Archbishop,  he  preached  in  a  rustic  chapel  in  West  Vir- 
ginia. The  people  gathered  from  the  neighborhood  to 
hear  him  and  among  others  were  several  mothers  with 
their  infants  at  their  breasts.  During  the  sermon  these 
babes  kept  up  unceasing  cries  to  the  great  inconvenience 
of  the  preacher  and  the  annoyance  of  the  congregation. 
One  of  the  parishioners  proceeded  to  remove  the  dis- 
turbers, but  the  Archbishop  forbade,  remarking  to  me, 
as  we  returned  to  the  hotel,  'I  would  suffer  any  incon- 
venience rather  than  deprive  these  poor  mothers  of  the 
satisfaction  of  hearing  Mass  and  listening  to  the  word 
of  God.'  " 

At  some  of  the  places  which  the  Archbishop  and  his 
secretary  visited  there  were  few  Catholics,  and  discus- 
sions sometimes  arose  with  guests  in  the  course  of  which 
criticisms  or  misunderstandings  of  the  Church  were  ex- 
pressed or  implied.  Spalding  was  ready  to  reply  to 
arguments  and  to  dispel  false  conceptions,  but  Gibbons, 
as  was  becoming,  was  usually  only  a  listener  on  these 
occasions.    He  thus  recalled  one  incident  of  that  kind : 

"The  Archbishop  was  informed  that  the  proprietor  of 
the  hotel  (at  which  they  were  visiting)  had  turned  away 
from  the  religion  of  his  ancestors  and  had  also  modified 
the  spelling  of  his  name.  Desiring  to  cultivate  the 
acquaintance   of   his   Grace,    he   asked    the   Archbishop 


GIRBOXS  AS  PRIRST  IX  Iftfifi 
Father  Oihhons  Standiiuj;  I  he  Rcr.  Ifcm-ii  li.  Cuskrrji  Sweated 


THE  PATH  OF  PROMOTION  71 

whether  he  spelt  his  name  Spaulding  or  omitted  the  let- 
ter u.  'Sir,'  the  Archbishop  briskly  replied,  'the  Spald- 
ings  will  never  change  their  faith  and  they  have  never 
altered  the  spelling  of  their  name.  They  were  never 
ashamed  of  their  faith  or  their  name.'  " 

His  duties  in  the  direct  relation  to  the  Archbishop 
were  not  permitted  to  monopolize  Gibbons'  time.  It 
was  not  in  him  to  be  idle  or  to  limit  his  efforts  at  any 
period  of  his  life  to  what  might  seem  to  be  a  narrow 
field.  He  was  active  as  a  clergyman  at  the  Cathedral 
and  in  January,  1866,  established  the  first  Sunday  School 
there,  which  became  so  popular  that  he  was  able  to  report 
in  a  letter  to  the  secretary  of  the  Maryland  Senate,  call- 
ing attention  to  the  work  of  the  parochial  schools,  that 
its  average  attendance  in  the  second  year  of  its  existence 
was  500.  This  was  proof  of  a  remarkable  degree  of 
interest  at  a  time  when  the  Sunday  School  movement 
was,  comparatively,  in  its  infancy. 

He  taught  classes  in  catechism  regularly  at  Calvert 
Hall  School  and  St.  Mary's  Orphan  Asylum.  At  all 
times  he  was  ready  to  respond  to  calls  for  his  services 
at  baptisms,  marriages  and  funerals.  It  was  well  re- 
membered that  he  showed  exceptional  zeal  in  visiting 
the  sick  and  the  poor. 

The  thoroughness  with  which  he  undertook  every  duty 
was  shown  by  a  long  letter  which  he  wrote  to  the  Rev. 
Thomas  A.  Becker  in  Richmond.  Father  Becker  had 
been  the  librarian  of  the  archdiocese,  and,  when  he  was 
sent  to  Richmond,  Gibbons  was  appointed  as  his  suc- 
cessor. Before  he  left  Baltimore  Gibbons  had  a  talk 
with  him,  endeavoring  to  learn  every  detail  of  the  work, 


72  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

and  also  studied  the  system  in  use  at  a  public  library 
there,  in  which  approved  methods  of  the  time  were  in 
use.  Still  unsatisfied,  he  sent  a  letter  to  Father  Becker 
asking  for  more  information.    He  wrote  of  his  request: 

"You  must  not  attribute  it  to  any  obscurity  on  your 
part,  but  rather  to  my  dullness  of  comprehension." 

He  suggested  a  plan  for  placing  a  catalogue  label  in 
each  book  of  the  library  and  added : 

"I  offer  this  opinion  timidly,  trusting  to  your  large 
experience  and  judgment  more  than  to  my  own  crude 
notions." 

The  letter  concluded: 

"The  regret  you  experience  in  leaving  Baltimore  is 
felt,  I  am  sure,  by  those  of  us  who  had  the  pleasure  of 
forming  your  acquaintance  during  your  short  stay  among 
us.  I  can  indeed  appreciate  your  feelings,  for  if  I  am 
so  distressed  at  abandoning  my  own  humble  parish,  I 
can  well  imagine  your  grief  at  parting  with  a  place  and 
with  gentlemen  so  congenial  to  your  good  taste;  but  I 
hope  you  will  have  the  reward  of  your  sacrifice."  ^ 

His  sermons  soon  attracted  attention  and  he  was  in 
demand  at  churches  throughout  the  city.  At  that  period 
his  rare  gifts  as  an  orator  in  the  best  sense  which  set 
him  on  a  pinnacle  as  a  preacher  in  later  years  were  being 
rapidly  perfected  by  experience  and  mature  thought. 
The  simplicity  and  force  of  his  language  could  not  fail 
to  charm;  his  logic  was  sound,  his  learning  solid;  and 
the  clearness  and  sweetness  of  his  voice,  which  could  fill 

'Letter  of  Father  Gibbons  to  Father  Becker,  November  24.   i86c- 


THE  PATH  OF  PROMOTION  73 

a  large  hall  without  effort,  combined  with  magnetism  of 
manner  that  gripped  the  attention  instantly,  formed  a 
rare  medium  for  the  virile  ideas  with  which  his  pulpit 
utterances  teemed. 

It  was  a  time  when  the  Church  had  need  of  her  strong 
men.  The  passions  following  the  Civil  War  were  at  their 
worst  and  grew  daily  in  ferocity.  The  United  States 
Government  had  used  pressure  at  Rome  against  the  ap- 
pointment of  Archbishop  Spalding  to  the  See  of  Balti- 
more, because  it  was  feared  that  he  was  not  sufficiently 
in  accord  with  the  policy  of  the  Federal  authorities 
toward  the  South.^  This  had  failed  and  the  Church 
had  been  able  to  proceed  serenely  on  her  mission  un- 
clouded by  the  storms  of  the  political  atmosphere. 

Wide  regions  were  in  ruin  and  the  ministrations  of 
religion  were  more  necessary  and  at  the  same  time  more 
difficult  to  convey  than  before  the  gigantic  conflict.  Hun- 
dreds of  families  in  the  diocese  of  Baltimore  as  else- 
where were  mourning  the  loss  of  father,  brother  or  son. 
In  the  counties  of  southern  Maryland,  the  soil  in  which 
the  Catholic  faith  had  first  taken  root  among  English- 
speaking  people  in  the  western  hemisphere,  the  slaves  had 
been  freed,  and  poverty  spread  its  shadow  where  the 
refinements  of  an  affluent  aristocracy  had  lately  flour- 
ished. 

To  meet  the  emergency  by  dealing  comprehensively 
with  all  the  pressing  problems  of  the  Church  in  America, 

•Archbishop  Spalding  wrote  in  his  journal  February  7,  1864:  "There 
appears  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  Government  is  interfering  at  Rome  •" 
regard  to  the  appointments  to  the  Sees  of  Baltimore  a"d  New  \ork  , 
O'Gorman,  History  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States 
p.  433 ;  Shea,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States,  Vol. 
4,  p.  493;  Riordan,  Cathedral  Records,  Baltimore,  p.  77- 


74  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

the  Second  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore  was  convened 
in  the  Cathedral  in  October,  1866.  Archbishop  Spald- 
ing presided  over  it,  and  Father  Gibbons  performed 
an  abundant  share  of  the  almost  incredible  mass  of  work 
connected  with  that  undertaking.  He  was  made  the 
assistant  chancellor  of  the  Council,  and  for  the  first  time 
was  thrown  into  an  arena  where  the  larger  outlook  of  the 
Church  immediately  confronted  him.  It  wrought  a 
transformation  in  him. 

Here  at  last  was  the  thing  for  which  he  was  fitted. 
Now  he  had  found  a  field  so  congenial  that  he  was  almost 
exuberantly  happy  all  the  time  in  his  task.  Labor  seemed 
light  as  the  broadening  experiences  which  he  met  con- 
stantly stimulated  him.  His  preference  was  ever  for 
the  greater  task,  and  then  and  at  all  stages  of  his  subse- 
quent life  the  lightning  rapidity  of  his  mind — for  he 
was  already  on  the  threshold  of  the  fulness  of  his  powers 
in  1866 — enabled  him  to  grasp  in  what  seemed  to  be  an 
instantaneous  manner  intricate  and  manifold  problems 
which  confused  and  thwarted  other  men.  Mental  con- 
ception on  the  broadest  lines  was  easier  and  simpler  to 
him  than  on  narrow  lines.  In  the  atmosphere  of  the 
great  operations  of  the  Church  his  spirit  and  intellect 
found  at  last  a  scope  worthy  of  himself. 

It  was  soon  evident,  not  only  to  the  appreciative 
observation  of  Archbishop  Spalding  but  to  the  men  of 
exceptional  powers  and  range  with  whom  Father  Gibbons 
was  thrown  in  contact  in  the  Council, — the  Archbishops 
and  Bishops  of  the  United  States, — that  he  fitted  into 
these  surroundings  as  if  they  had  always  been  a  part  of 
him.    Possessing  traits  of  statesmanship  that  might  have 


THE  PATH  OF  PROMOTION  75 

carried  him  to  any  height  had  he  chosen  a  career  of 
political  advancement,  men  of  lesser  parts  began,  as  it 
were  instinctively,  to  consult  and  trust  him.  Where 
others  might  be  unprogressive,  impractical,  out  of  touch 
with  the  times,  too  ardent  or  controversial,  he  was  cool, 
judicious,  far-seeing,  enlightened,  inspired  by  sentiments 
of  lofty  patriotism  as  well  as  by  the  fire  of  apostolic  zeal. 
He  was  already  formulating  in  his  mind  those  grander 
ideas  which  he  was  one  day  to  impress  upon  the  world; 
and  his  contact  with  the  leading  men  of  the  Church  in 
America  served  to  give  him  the  bearings  with  which  he 
might  start  upon  the  decisive  part  of  his  career. 

It  had  been  remarked  of  him,  as  his  powers  developed, 
that  he  seemed  destined  for  leadership,  but  he  had  scant 
opportunity  to  show  his  real  mettle  m  the  little  field  at 
St.  Bridget's.  Now  he  was  on  the  eve  of  the  develop- 
ment that  was  to  be  his.  He  rose  to  the  opportunity  with 
a  strength,  poise  and  brilliancy  which  none  could  mistake. 

So  thorough  was  the  preparation  for  the  Council  which 
Archbishop  Spalding  had  made  with  the  help  of  his 
gifted  lieutenant  that  it  was  able  to  complete  its  work 
in  two  weeks.  Among  its  most  important  acts  was  the 
constitution  of  a  number  of  new  dioceses,  subject  to  con- 
firmation by  the  Holy  See,  to  stimulate  the  spread  of 
the  faith  in  the  stricken  South  and  in  fast  growing  com- 
munities of  the  North  and  West.  One  of  the  new  juris- 
dictions was  the  Vicarate  Apostolic  of  North  Carolina. 
So  strong  an  impression  had  Father  Gibbons  made  upon 
the  assembled  Bishops  that,  although  but  thirty-two  years 
old  and  only  five  years  removed  from  the  seminary,  he 
was  unanimously  nominated  for  that  important  post. 


76  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

So  far  from  being  elated  at  the  honor  bestowed  upon 
him,  which  was  all  the  more  marked  because  of  his  com- 
parative youth,  Gibbons  was  oppressed  by  the  "appalling 
burden,"  as  he  called  it,  and  was  long  in  doubt  as  to 
whether  or  not  he  ought  to  accept.  His  feelings  were 
never  the  commonplace  impulses  which  play  along  the 
surface  of  the  average  man's  character,  but  reached  the 
depths.  To  him  no  task  meant  routine,  however  noble 
that  routine  might  be.  A  bishopric  was  a  battle,  and  a 
bishopric  in  North  Carolina  at  that  time  meant  a  battle 
in  which  the  odds  were  heavily  against  him.  He  wrote 
to  his  friend  T.  Herbert  Shriver,  then  a  student  at  St. 
Charles  College : 

"Baltimore, 

"February  19,  1868. 
"My  dear  Herbert: 

".  .  .  The  long  threatened  documents  from  Rome 
have  come  at  last,  or  at  least  official  letters  from  Cardi- 
nal Barnabo  confirming  most  of  the  nominations  made 
at  the  late  Plenary  Council.  Among  the  batch  was  one 
for  your  devoted  friend  myself.  It  was  stated  in  the 
letter  that  the  Bulls  would  be  sent  forthwith.  Already 
the  Archbishop  in  his  kindness  is  preparing  for  me  some 
of  the  episcopal  paraphernalia.  In  contemplating  these 
shining  but  oppressive  insignia  I  compare  myself  to  a 
bull  decked  out  for  the  sacrifice.  .  .  . 

"Do  pray  for  me,  dear  Herbert,  that  if  I  accept  this 
appalling  burden,  the  very  thought  of  which  makes  me 
gloomy,  although  I  try  to  keep  up  a  cheerful  appearance, 
God  may  give  me  light  and  strength  necessary  for  the 
tremendous  office.  .  .  . 

"Your  friend  in  Christ, 

"Jas.  Gibbons." 


THE  PATH  OF  PROMOTION  77 

The  decrees  of  the  Council  were  signed  by  seven  Arch- 
bishops, thirty-nine  Bishops  or  their  procurators  and  two 
Abbots.  An  important  declaration,  destined  to  be  quoted 
as  a  precedent  for  the  fathers  of  the  Church  in  Rome 
itself  in  a  few  years,  related  to  the  office  of  the  Supreme 
Pontiff.  The  Council  decreed  that  he  spoke  with  the 
"living  and  infallible  authority"  of  the  whole  Church, 
which  "was  built  by  Christ  upon  Peter,  who  is  the  head, 
body  and  pastor  of  the  whole  Church,  whose  faith  Christ 
promised  should  never  fail." 

Especial  importance  was  laid  by  the  Council  upon 
regulations  which  were  to  guide  the  fast  expanding  body 
of  the  priesthood  in  carrying  the  message  of  the  Church 
to  the  people.  These  regulations  helped  to  prepare  the 
way  for  the  work  that  Gibbons  was  to  do  in  high 
station.  Preachers,  it  was  declared,  were  to  employ  an 
explanatory  rather  than  a  controversial  style  in  their 
sermons,  and  were  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  capacity 
of  their  hearers.  Attacks  were  not  to  be  made  from  the 
pulpit  on  public  magistrates,  nor  were  priests  to  mingle 
political  and  civil  topics  with  religious  doctrines.  In 
reprehending  vices  they  were  never  to  become  personal. 
They  should  declare  the  truth  fearlessly,  without  being 
influenced  by  human  motives.  Prolixity  in  sermons  was 
to  be  avoided  and  care  must  be  taken  not  to  bestow  undue 
praise  in  funeral  orations.  Priests  should  avoid  recourse 
to  civil  tribunals  if  possible.  They  should  be  careful 
never  to  attend  nor  to  have  any  connection  with  improper 
spectacles  and  games. 

Regarding  the  solicitation  of  money  for  Church  uses, 
a  problem  of  exceptional  difficulty,  because  many  of  the 


78  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Catholic  flocks  were  composed  almost  wholly  of  the  poor, 
it  was  emphasized  that  priests  were  not  to  be  importunate 
in  addressing  their.congregations.  The  practise  of  taking 
money  on  deposit  for  which  interest  was  to  be  paid  was 
condemned.  Entrance  money  must  not  be  collected  at 
churches.  Free  burial  must  be  given  to  the  poor.  Catho- 
lics might  be  buried  with  sacred  rites  in  non-Catholic 
cemeteries  if  they  possessed  lots  in  such  places,  provided 
they  were  not  obtained  in  contempt  of  Church  law.  Mar- 
riages of  Catholics  and  non-Catholics,  far  more  common 
in  America  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world,  were  to 
be  discouraged.  Bishops,  it  was  directed,  should  seek  to 
use  a  uniform  method  in  granting  matrimonial  dispensa- 
tions. 

The  clergy  were  warned  to  avoid  idleness  as  a  pest, 
for  the  Church  has  ever  held  that  only  in  the  ceaseless 
activity  of  their  calling  can  they  find  the  self-effacement 
which  is  necessary  to  divorcing  their  task  as  far  as  pos- 
/  sible  from  the  weaknesses  of  the  flesh.  Greater  provision 
for  the  education  of  priests  and  the  erection  of  prepara- 
tory schools  as  well  as  seminaries  for  them  was  recom- 
mended. Stress  was  laid  upon  the  proper  education  of 
youth.  It  was  urged  that  parish  schools  should  be  erected 
by  every  congregation  and  that  the  instruction,  when 
possible,  should  be  by  teachers  belonging  to  religious 
congregations.  Catechism  classes  were  to  be  instituted 
in  the  churches  for  children  who  attended  the  public 
schools. 

Mingled  with  the  definite  acts  of  the  Council,  its  pre- 
cise rules,  its  formulas  of  thought  and  conduct,  was  the 
expression  of  a  dream  in  the  rich  realization  of  which 


THE  PATH  OF  PROMOTION  79 

the  young  assistant  chancellor,  as  Archbishop  of  Balti- 
more, was  to  have  the  decisive  part.  That  vision  took 
the  form  of  an  expression  of  a  strong  desire  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Catholic  university  in  the  United  States 
which  might  serve  as  the  capstone  of  a  general  system 
of  Church  education  and  afford  to  youth  who  sought  to 
preserve  their  faith  without  fraction  of  loss  an  oppor- 
tunity to  obtain  the  greatest  facilities  for  cultural  de- 
velopment under  the  guidance  of  their  own  spiritual 
superiors. 

In  addition  to  the  Masonic  Order,  long  previously 
condemned  by  the  Church,  the  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Sons 
of  Temperance  were  classed  as  forbidden  societies.  The 
faithful,  it  was  decreed,  should  not  enter  any  organiza- 
tion which,  having  designs  against  Church  or  State, 
bound  its  members  with  an  oath  of  secrecy.* 

The  closing  ceremonies  of  the  Council  were  attended 
by  President  Andrew  Johnson,  whom  Father  Gibbons 
met  on  that  occasion,  the  first  of  a  long  line  of  Presi- 
dents whom  he  was  to  know  personally,  and  with  many 
of  whom  he  was  to  have  close  and  important  relations.'^ 

The  nominations  of  the  new  Bishops  were  not  con- 
firmed until  1868  and  in  the  meantime  Father  Gibbons 
continued  his  work  at  the  Cathedral.  The  surroundings 
of  the  archiepiscopal  house  there  are  singularly  adapted 
to  bringing  out  of  priests  their  capacity  for  the  executive 
work  of  the  Church.     Baltimore  was  for  many  years, 

*Acta  et  Deer  eta  Cone.  Plen.  II,  Baltimore,  1868;  Sermons  and  Pas- 
toral Letters,  Second  Plenary  Council,  published  by  Kelly  &  Piet,  Balti- 
more,   l866.  .       ,    r,  TT    1 

'Shea,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  tn  the  United  States,  Vol.  4, 
p.  720. 


80  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

and  still  is  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  Catholic  center 
of  America,  the  Rome  of  the  Western  World.  The 
Cathedral  parish  contains  some  of  the  most  important 
Catholic  families  of  the  United  States,  pillars  of  the 
Church  since  the  days  of  the  Calverts.  The  clergy  thus 
have  under  their  spiritual  care  a  highly  cultivated  ele- 
ment in  whose  social  life  they  mingle  and  from  whose 
environment  they  draw  inspiration. 

The  archiepiscopal  residence  stands  in  dignified  semi- 
isolation  upon  a  large  lot  on  Charles  Street  in  surround- 
ings which  in  1865-68  were  almost  Athenian  in  their 
refinement.  It  is  of  gray  stone  and  brick,  two  stories 
high,  with  a  large  basement,  and  is  constructed  along 
graceful  lines  with  the  breadth  of  proportion  charac- 
teristic of  Baltimore  homes  of  the  better  class  in  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  without  any  trace 
of  magnificence  of  architecture  or  ornament.  At  the  rear 
a  paved  walk  leads  to  the  Cathedral,  which  stands,  like 
the  house,  on  a  commanding  eminence  overlooking  down- 
town Baltimore. 

A  tall  flight  of  steps  leads  to  the  front  door  of  the 
house,  which  sets  back  in  a  recess  of  the  wall.  Inside  is 
an  English  hallway,  extending  the  full  length  of  the 
building,  flanked  on  each  side  by  spacious  rooms  fur- 
nished with  simplicity,  almost  scantily.  Not  a  trace  of 
luxury  is  to  be  seen.  On  the  walls  are  religious  paintings 
and  portraits  of  prelates  identified  with  the  archdiocese, 
with  a  bust  or  two  here  and  there.  A  bay  window  stand- 
ing out  boldly  is  a  vantage-point  for  reviewing  parades. 

The  residence  was  originally  a  small  building  erected 
during  the  administration  of  Archbishop  Whitfield  and 


THE  PATH  OF  PROMOTION  81 

occupied  by  him  for  the  first  time  in  1830.  Captain 
William  Kennedy  and  his  wife  contributed  a  large  sum 
in  1865,  the  year  in  which  Father  Gibbons  began  his 
work  in  the  household,  by  means  of  which  two  wings 
were  built  and  another  story  was  added.  A  conspicuous 
tablet  in  the  well-stocked  library  commemorates  this 
gift. 

Here,  when  Gibbons  was  a  member  of  Archbishop 
Spalding's  staff,  was  the  heart  of  fashionable  Baltimore. 
Across  the  street  and  up  and  down  were  the  houses  of, 
the  rich  and  cultured,  the  historic  families  of  Maryland, 
and  on  the  sidewalks  trooped  the  belles  and  beaux  of 
the  city.  Charles  Street  at  that  point  did  not  twist  as 
sharply  in  1865  as  its  neighbor,  St.  Paul  Street,  which  is 
said  to  have  followed  the  tracks  of  a  cow-path  in  colonial 
times;  but  so  numerous  were  the  hills  that  scarcely  a 
level  spot  was  to  be  found  in  it.  Inside  and  outside  the 
archiepiscopal  residence  the  atmosphere  was  one  of  lofty 
things  and  every  priest  who  lived  there  felt  its  stimulus. 


CHAPTER   V 

NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS 

As  the  "boy  Bishop" — the  youngest  of  twelve  hundred 
in  the  world-wide  Catholic  Hierarchy  and  one  of  the 
youngest  upon  whom  that  rank  was  ever  conferred— 
the  new  Vicar  Apostolic  started  on  his  mission  to  North 
Carolina.  He  was  elevated  to  the  episcopate  in  the  Balti- 
more Cathedral,  August  16,  1868,  receiving  as  his  titular 
See  Adramyttum,  one  of  the  ancient  seats  of  the  faith  in 
Asia  Minor  which  had  been  severed  from  Christendom 
by  the  scimitar.  Archbishop  Spalding  conferred  the 
crozier,  ring  and  miter  upon  him  and  at  the  same  time 
upon  another  graduate  of  the  "School  of  Bishops" — the 
Baltimore  Cathedral  household — the  Rev.  Thomas  A. 
Becker,  who  had  been  appointed  to  the  See  of  Wilming- 
ton, Delaware. 

What  a  difference  between  the  tasks  marked  out  for 
these  two  men!  What  a  difference  between  the  Wil- 
mingtons  to  which  they  were  going  I  In  W^ilmington, 
Delaware,  situated  in  one  of  the  smallest  and  least  popu- 
lous American  States,  there  were  single  Catholic  churches 
whose  congregations  were  larger  than  the  entire  Catholic 
community  of  North  Carolina,  then  numbering  barely 
800  souls  among  1,000,000  inhabitants  in  that  large  com- 
monwealth. There  was  in  Delaware  no  lack  of  priests, 
with  rectories  and  parochial  halls  for  them  and  means 

82 


GIBBONS  AwS  THE  YOUNGEST  BISHOP 

From  a  phntof/rnph   Inken  sonn  after  he  became   Vicar  Apostolic  of 
North  CaroliiKt. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS         83 

at  hand  for  the  modest  material  sustenance  which  they 
required.  In  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  was  but  one  priest  and  in  all  the  remainder 
of  the  State,  stretching  nearly  five  hundred  miles  from 
the  mountains  to  the  sea,  there  were  only  two.  Of  these 
three  it  might  be  almost  said  that,  like  their  Divine 
Exemplar,  they  had  nowhere  to  lay  their  heads. 

Delaware,  though  its  rural  portions  were  isolated  from 
the  main  channels  of  railroad  communication  and,  in  the 
post-colonial  social  conditions  which  lingered  there,  not 
a  little  of  the  prejudice  against  Catholics  derived  from 
English  sources  remained,  was  not,  on  the  whole,  unrecep- 
tive  to  the  faith.  North  Carolina,  except  for  a  thin 
wedge  of  the  population,  regarded  Catholicism  with  a 
deep-seated  misunderstanding  born  of  years  of  remote- 
ness. 

At  the  double  consecration  ceremony,  another  Cathe- 
dral priest,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Foley,  chancellor  of  the 
archdiocese  and  afterward  Bishop  of  Chicago,  delivered 
the  sermon.  From  the  depths  of  an  overflowing  heart 
he  addressed  the  new  Vicar  Apostolic  with  words  of  en- 
couragement, even  prophecy,  as  to  the  arduous  mission 
about  to  be  undertaken.     He  said : 

"I  cannot  congratulate  you  on  going  to  North  Caro- 
lina, but  I  do  rejoice  for  the  honor  which  the  Church  of 
God  has  conferred  upon  you  and  I  congratulate  your 
flock,  few  and  scattered,  upon  the  advantage  they  are 
to  derive  from  the  Apostolic  mission  you  are  to  establish 
in  that  State,  which,  in  a  religious  sense,  may  be  called  a 
desert.  It  will  not  be  long,  I  predict,  before  that  desert 
will  be  made  to  bloom  and  produce  much  fruit,  and  your 


84  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

vicariate,  now  so  poor  and  uninviting,  will  be  able  to 
compare  with  dioceses  of  longer  existence  in  religious 
prosperity." 

Father  Foley  could  not  allow  the  occasion  to  pass 
without  bearing  testimony  to  the  priestly  virtues  which 
he  had  observed  in  close  contact  with  Bishop  Gibbons, 
saying : 

"You  have  been  associated  with  us,  like  your  right 
reverend  companion  at  this  altar.  You  were  of  our 
household  and  home.  We  have  had  the  opportunity  of 
observing  in  both  of  you  not  only  those  great  charac- 
teristics which  ought  to  be  found  in  every  Christian  priest, 
but  also  those  interior  traits  of  virtue  which  embellish 
and  complete  the  man  of  God.  We,  then,  who  have  lived 
with  you  for  years,  if  our  testimony  be  of  value,  added 
to  that  which  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Supreme  Pontiff  and 
the  prelates  of  our  country  have  given,  cheerfully  and 
truthfully  give  it.  We  have  seen  you  both  doing  the  toil 
of  the  priesthood,  helping  the  poor,  instructing  the  igno- 
rant, visiting  the  sick  at  all  hours,  thinking  nothing  too 
laborious  or  too  fatiguing  and  always  willing  to  take  not 
only  your  share  of  the  labors,  but  ready  to  take  a  larger 
portion  that  you  might  relieve  your  brother  priests."  ^ 

The  young  Vicar  Apostolic  remained  in  Baltimore  for 
a  short  time,  continuing  his  assistance  to  Archbishop 
Spalding.  One  of  his  earliest  episcopal  acts  was  to  con- 
firm a  class  at  St.  Bridget's,  where  his  former  parishioners 
welcomed  him  with  a  joy  that  reflected  their  affectionate 
interest  in  his  rising  career  and  their  gratitude  for  the 
labors  which  he  had  performed  among  them. 

*  An  extended  account  of  these  ceremonies  was  given  in  the  Catholic 
Mirror,  then  the  Church  paper  of  the  l^altii'iore  Archdiocese,  August  22. 
1868,  which  is  the  authority  for  many  of  the  facts  related  here. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS  85 

Among  the  first  of  his  North  Carolina  flock  with  whom 
he  came  in  close  contact  was  a  young  woman,  Frances 
Fisher,  known  later  as  a  successful  novelist  under  the 
pen  name  of  Christian  Reid,  who  has  recorded  her  im- 
pressions of  him  at  that  period.^  In  1867  she  had  just 
been  received  into  the  Church  as  a  convert.  She  went 
to  Baltimore  in  the  winter  of  1867-68  and  was  in- 
structed in  the  faith  by  Bishop-designate  Gibbons,  of 
whom  she  thus  wrote  many  years  later: 

"At  that  time  the  news  had  come  to  the  small  band 
of  Catholics  in  North  Carolina  that  they  were  to  have  a 
Bishop  of  their  own  and  that  the  choice  of  the  Holy  See 
had  fallen  on  a  priest  attached  to  the  household  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  So  it  chanced  that  when,  as 
a  very  youthful  convert  just  received  into  the  Church 
and  seeking  a  spiritual  guide  for  those  first  steps  in  the 
practice  of  the  faith  which  are  so  difficult  for  a  convert, 
I  went  to  Baltimore  in  the  winter  of  the  year  mentioned, 
it  was  with  the  consciousness  of  a  certain  claim  upon  the 
attention  of  one  who,  although  personally  unknown  to 
me,  was  the  designated  Vicar  Apostolic  of  the  State  from 
which  I  came.  How  readily  this  claim  was  acknowl- 
edged, with  what  courtesy  and  kindness  the  stranger 
who  sought  him  was  received,  no  one  who  knows  Cardinal 
Gibbons  can  doubt,  for  the  suavity  which  has  always  been 
such  a  marked  trait  of  the  prelate  was  not  less  a  trait  of 
the  priest. 

"Looking  back  with  a  much  wider  knowledge  than  I 
then  possessed,  I  am  sure  that  no  convert  ever  found  a 
gentler  or  more  winning  guide  nor  one  who  more  quickly 
made  the  newcomer  feel  at  home  in  her  Father's  house. 
It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  in  all  the  memories  of 

'Miss   Fisher   was   the    daughter   of   a   Confederate   colonel   who   had 
been  killed  early  in  the  Civil  War.     She  became  Mrs.  Tiernan. 


86  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

one  whom  I  was  destined  afterward  to  see  often  and  to 
know  at  least  comparatively  well,  the  earliest  are  the 
most  vivid,  and  that  beside  the  splendid,  scarlet-clad 
figure  of  the  Cardinal,  there  stands  ever  a  picture  of  the 
modest  yoimg  priest,  of  whom  Archbishop  Spalding, 
kindest  and  most  genial  of  prelates,  remarked,  turning 
an  affectionate  glance  upon  him:  'You  know,  we  are 
going  to  send  this  little  man  as  Bishop  down  to  North 
Carolina.'  "  » 

Severe  illness  prostrated  Gibbons  almost  on  the  eve 
of  his  installation  in  his  new  post.  He  wrote  to  his 
friend  T.  Herbert  Shriver:  .(t*  i.- 

"Oct.  19,  1868. 
"My  dear  Herbert : 

"I  received  and  read  your  letter  in  my  sick  bed  on 
Friday  or  Saturday.  I  am  just  recovered,  thank  God, 
from  a  sudden  attack  of  illness  which  the  doctor  feared 
at  one  time  might  culminate  in  pneumonia. 

"I  had  an  engagement  to  preach  yesterday  in  the 
Cathedral  in  behalf  of  my  new  diocese,  and,  notwith- 
standing my  feeble  health,  I  managed  to  crawl  into  the 
pulpit  and  say  somicthing  to  the  point,  and  I  believe  with 
fruitful  result  to  myself  if  not  to  the  congregation.  It 
is  good  even  for  the  preacher  himself  to  profit  by  his 
preaching.  .  .  . 

"Truly  yours  in  our  Lord, 

"James  Gibbons." 

Archbishop  Spalding,  although  indisposed  on  account 
of  his  health  to  make  long  journeys,  broke  his  rule  of 
custom  to  accompany  his  protege  to  North  Carolina  for 
the  installation  ceremonies  there.  They  arrived  in  Wil- 
mington on  Friday  evening,  October  30,  and  were  greeted 

"Letter  of  Christian  Reid,  December,  1911. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS  87 

by  a  delegation  of  the  laity  headed  by  the  Rev,  Mark 
S.  Gross,  the  priest  of  St.  Thomas'  Church,  the  only 
sanctuary  of  the  Catholic  faith  in  that  city.  The  ecclesi- 
astical visitors  were  escorted  in  carriages  to  the  residence 
of  Colonel  F.  W.  Kerchner,  one  of  the  prominent  resi- 
dents of  Wilmington  and  a  parishioner  of  St.  Thomas', 
who  welcomed  them  with  Southern  hospitality.  Major 
Reilly  made  an  address  in  behalf  of  the  scant  body  of 
the  laity,  expressing  gratitude  that  at  last  a  Bishop  had 
been  sent  to  the  state  to  build  up  the  work  of  the  Church 
and  pledging  the  cooperation  of  Catholics  as  far  as  their 
means  would  go. 

The  new  Bishop,  who  had  already  developed  that 
singular  felicity  of  expression  on  public  occasions  which 
often  served  him  so  well,  responded  with  thanks  for  the 
warm-hearted  sincerity  of  his  reception.  He  avowed 
the  hope  that  the  future  would  strengthen  the  bonds 
established  between  the  diocese  and  himself.  The  Catho- 
lics in  the  State,  he  knew,  were  few.  He  had  not  come 
among  them  to  seek  personal  comfort;  sent  by  consti- 
tuted authority,  he  had  only  one  object — their  spiritual 
guidance  and  the  salvation  of  souls — regardless  of  sacri- 
fices and  difficulties.  He  was  ready  to  expend  his  utmost 
efforts  in  the  work  and  he  did  not  doubt  that  he  would 
receive  cordial  cooperation.  Archbishop  Spalding 
spoke  briefly,  encouraging  the  Carolina  Catholics  with 
hopes  for  the  spread  of  the  faith. 

On  the  Sunday  after  his  arrival,  while  rain  descended 
as  if  to  fructify  the  seed  that  was  being  planted,  the 
Bishop  was  installed  in  St.  Thomas'  Church.  Arch- 
bishop Spalding  preached,  his  sermon  serving  as  a  cordial 


88  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

introduction  of  the  new  prelate  to  the  vicariate,  as  well 
as  a  whole-hearted  expression  of  his  confidence  in  Bishop 
Gibbons  born  of  the  closest  personal  observation.  The 
Archbishop  said: 

"Your  Bishop  was  recommended  by  the  council  of 
Bishops  held  in  Baltimore  a  few  years  ago.  He  received 
their  unanimous  vote  and  holds  his  commission  from 
Rome.  I  know  him  well.  He  is  beloved  by  all  who 
know  him  in  Baltimore. 

"There  are  few  Catholics  here  and  they  are  poor.  We 
cannot  expect  much  at  first.  The  Kingdom  of  God, 
steady  in  its  increase,  is  the  work  of  more  than  eighteen 
hundred  years.  The  Apostles  were  poor.  They  enriched 
the  world  with  their  heroic  deeds  of  Christianity.  They 
never  failed  nor  will  they  ever  fail  in  their  successors. 
I  recommend  your  Bishop  to  you,  not  only  to  Catholics, 
but  to  all  good  Christians  who  have  the  spread  of  Christ's 
religion  on  earth  at  heart.  .  .  .  He  has  not  yet  chosen 
his  seat.  For  the  present  he  will  reside  among  you.  He 
improves  upon  acquaintance.  Though  he  will  be  found 
uncompromising  in  his  principles  of  faith,  he  will  be 
charitable  to  all  and  assist  all,  irrespective  of  sect  or 
creed." 

Bishop  Gibbons  postponed  his  own  address  to  the  con- 
gregation until  vespers  the  same  day.  On  that  occasion 
he  began  with  an  appealing  touch  of  personal  relation- 
ship, expressing  his  deep  gratitude  to  the  Archbishop 
who  had  left  many  pressing  duties  in  Baltimore  "at  the 
call  of  friendship"  to  establish  him  in  his  new  diocese. 
While  he  had  come  among  them  as  a  stranger,  he  felt 
that  he  could  not  look  upon  himself  entirely  in  that 
light,  called  as  he  was  by  the  supreme  head  of  the  Church 
to  be  their  spiritual  father.     Although  he  scarcely  knew 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS  89 

a  face  among  all  those  in  front  of  him,  he  knew  the  peo- 
ple of  the  diocese  as  citizens  and  sons  of  the  South,  for 
so  was  he.  They  were  not  only  united  to  one  another 
by  the  bonds  of  faith,  but  were  brothers  linked  by  the 
ties  of  a  common  country  and  having  the  same  material 
interests.  He  had  not  doubted  that  a  welcome  awaited 
him  in  North  Carolina  and  would  do  his  best  to  prove 
himself  worthy  of  it.* 

A  more  unpromising  field  for  any  effort  requiring  a  call 
for  material  resources  would  be  difBcult  to  imagine.  The 
contending  armies  had  swept  bare  large  areas  of  the 
State,  the  sudden  freeing  of  the  slaves  had  disorganized 
labor  and  there  was  a  general  paralysis  of  industry.^ 
Added  to  these  evils  was  the  hopelessness  bred  by  the 
political  and  economic  chaos  of  the  reconstruction  period, 
when  the  State  was  dominated  by  a  combination  of 
negroes  with  emigres  from  the  North  who  were  called 
"carpet-baggers." 

On  the  night  following  his  arrival.  Bishop  Gibbons 
witnessed  a  torchlight  procession  of  negroes,  a  political 
campaign  being  in  progress.  As  he  described  the  wild 
disorder  of  the  scene,  it  appeared  like  an  inferno.  "Is 
my  lot  to  be  cast  in  these  surroundings?"  he  thought, 
with  dismay. 

The  ignorant  elements  then  in  power  even  seized 
churches  and  devoted  them  to  any  use  that  suited  their 
whims.  Soon  after  the  new  Bishop  arrived  he  learned 
how  the  Catholic  church  at  Newbern  had  been  saved 

*  Catholic   Mirror.   November    14,    1868;    Wilmington   Daily   Journal, 
November   3,   i868. 
"Hamilton,  Reconstruction  in  North  Carolina,  pp.  178-18.^. 


90  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

a  short  time  before.  Captain  McNamara,  of  the  Federal 
army,  was  riding  past  the  church  when  he  saw  a  body, 
of  persons  gathered  about  the  building,  apparently  in 
charge  of  it,  and  inquired  as  to  their  business. 

"We  have  occupied  this  church  for  school  purposes," 
said  one  of  them. 

"What  is  your  authority?"  inquired  the  captain. 

"Our  authority  is  that  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment and  of  Jesus  Christ,"  answered  the  school  mistress. 

"Well,"  remarked  the  captain,  "that  is  good  authority; 
but,  as  a  Federal  officer,  I  am  accustomed  to  obeying 
written  authority.  Can  you  show  papers  from  the  sources 
you  have  mentioned*?" 

The  teacher  was  at  a  loss  for  words  and  the  captain 
continued : 

"As  you  cannot  produce  the  papers,  my  order  is  that 
you  vacate  this  church  at  once  and  enter  it  no  more  for 
such  purposes." 

The  Bishop  soon  had  occasion  to  observe  other  mani- 
festations of  the  corrupt  and  chaotic  political  conditions 
into  which  he  was  thrust.  When  he  went  to  cast  his  first 
vote  in  the  State,  a  negro  official  demanded  that  he  show 
naturalization  papers  and  he  had  difficulty  in  convincing 
the  suspicious  functionary  that  he  was  native  born.  An- 
other negro  official  ordered  him  peremptorily  to  tear 
down  a  frame  shed  on  the  church  property  in  Wilming- 
ton, because  a  city  ordinance  provided  that  buildings 
should  be  of  brick  or  stone.  The  Bishop  pointed  out  that 
wooden  buildings  were  standing  on  city  property,  but 
the  negro  insisted  and  he  was  forced  to  cover  the  shed 
with  tin. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS         91 

Writing  later  of  his  experiences  at  this  period,®  he  ex- 
pressed the  view  that  "while  right-thinking  men  are  ready- 
to  accord  to  the  colored  citizen  all  to  which  he  is  fairly 
entitled,  yet  to  give  him  control  over  a  highly  intellectual 
and  intricate  civilization  in  creating  which  he  has  borne 
no  essential  part  and  for  conducting  which  his  anteced- 
ents have  manifestly  unfitted  him,  would  be  hurtful  to 
the  country  as  well  as  to  himself."  In  a  subsequent  po- 
litical campaign  in  Maryland  "^  he  declared  against  taking 
the  suffrage  from  negroes  by  any  method,  but  he  adhered 
consistently  to  the  view  that  their  domination  in  political 
affairs  would  be  madness. 

The  contrast  of  the  Bishop's  living  quarters  in  Wil- 
mington to  those  which  he  had  recently  occupied  in  the 
archiepiscopal  house  in  Baltimore  was  great.  Father 
Gross  shared  with  him  the  scanty  accommodations  of 
what  was  called  a  "lean  to" — four  little  rooms  built 
against  the  rear  wall  of  the  church,  two  on  the  ground 
floor  and  two  upstairs.  The  furnishings  were  of  the 
simplest.  These  two  devoted  men  of  God  slept  on  cots 
and  ate  from  a  table  of  rough  boards,  sometimes  prepar- 
ing their  food  with  their  own  hands  if  they  had  no  funds 
with  which  to  employ  help.  The  floors  were  bare  of 
even  a  rug.  Money  was  lacking  then  and  for  a  long  time 
afterward  to  erect  an  episcopal  residence. 

Bishop  Gibbons  and  Father  Gross  became  attached 
to  each  other  by  the  warmest  ties.  Father  Gross'  large- 
hearted  charity  led  him  to  give  away  so  much  that  the 
Bishop  sometimes  found  himself  hard  pressed  to  supply 

'Reminiscences   of   Cardinal    Gibbons   read   before   the   United   States 
Catholic  Historical  Society  of  New  York,  May  25,  1891. 
'1908. 


92  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

even  the  meager  funds  required  for  their  little  establish- 
ment. It  was  said  of  that  saintly  priest  that  if  he  had 
more  than  one  hat  or  pair  of  trousers  he  was  sure  to 
bestow  the  extra  one  on  some  needy  parishioner.  On 
one  occasion  when  he  entered  a  store  it  was  noticed  that 
he  wore  a  laced  shoe  on  one  foot  and  a  buttoned  shoe 
on  the  other.  When  asked  about  it  he  replied  that  he 
had  given  a  pair  to  a  poor  man  and  had  not  noticed  that 
they  were  not  alike. 

The  penury  of  some  war-wrecked  families  in  Wilming- 
ton was  relieved,  even  though  it  could  be  only  in  small 
part,  by  sums  accumulated  through  the  rigid  self-denial 
of  the  Bishop  and  his  companion. 

Before  he  left  Baltimore  the  Bishop  had  raised  $7000 
with  which  to  buy  additional  ground  adjoining  St. 
Thomas'  Church.  It  was  a  small  building  and  he  de- 
signed to  enlarge  it.  Deferring  this  undertaking  until  a 
more  propitious  time,  he  consolidated  the  foundations  of 
the  work  in  Wilmington  preparatory  to  a  general  survey 
of  his  vicariate. 

Then  began  one  of  the  most  novel  missionary  tours 
ever  undertaken  by  a  Bishop.  Throughout  the  State  he 
traveled,  preaching  and  teaching,  winning  Protestants  as 
his  friends  no  less  than  Catholics,  studying  each  locality 
and,  whenever  opportunity  offered,  planting  the  seeds  of 
a  congregation.  The  frankness  of  his  appeal  opened 
a  way  for  him  everywhere  and  the  leading  people  of 
the  State,  regardless  of  creed,  welcomed  him  to  their 
homes.  When  no  other  means  were  available,  he  in- 
structed and  preached  in  Protestant  churches,  court 
houses,  public  halls  and  even  in  Masonic  lodge  rooms, 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS         93 

which  were  in  some  cases  the  only  public  buildings  avail- 
able for  the  purpose  in  places  that  he  visited. 

Perhaps  the  most  novel  of  these  experiences  was  at 
Greenville,  which  he  reached  early  one  morning  by  boat. 
He  went  to  the  town  hotel  to  register  and  there  met  Dr. 
O'Hagan,  a  Protestant  physician,  who  urged  that  the 
Bishop  should  be  his  guest.  During  the  morning  he  held 
a  sort  of  levee,  people  of  all  creeds  calling  to  welcome 
him  to  the  town  and  wishing  him  God-speed  in  his  labors. 

When  it  was  learned  that  he  intended  to  preach,  the 
local  judge  offered  him  the  use  of  the  court  house  and 
the  trustees  of  the  Methodist  Church  were  so  moved  by 
the  personal  impression  which  he  had  made  that  they 
put  their  house  of  worship  at  his  disposal.  With  a 
stroke  of  daring,  he  chose  the  church  and  preached  there 
at  night  to  a  large  congregation,  nearly  all  of  whom 
were  Protestants.  The  people  were  summoned  by  the 
church  bell;  the  Methodist  choir  assisted  in  the  services; 
the  Bishop,  standing  in  the  Methodist  pulpit,  read  from 
a  Protestant  Bible  and  the  only  part  of  the  service  which 
was  distinctively  of  his  own  faith  was  the  sermon. 

Everywhere  crowds  flocked  to  hear  the  liberal  and 
zealous  apostle  whose  fast  rising  local  fame  preceded 
him.  There  developed  a  pride  in  the  youthful  prelate, 
their  own  Bishop,  preeminently  a  man  of  the  people, 
mingling  with  all  and  gaining  friends  everywhere  by  his 
rare  graces  of  manner.  His  gifts  as  a  preacher  were 
enough  in  themselves  to  form  a  powerful  attraction  in 
the  communities  to  which  he  went.  Aimed  especially 
to  win  those  who  were  full  of  hostility  to  his  creed,  his 
sermons  were  of  the  simple  truths  of  the  Gospel,  the 


94.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

brotherhood  of  man,  duty  to  God  and  country.  Preju- 
dice melted  before  his  words.  In  the  broken  condition 
of  the  South,  it  was  recognized  on  every  hand  that  where 
Bishop  Gibbons  founded  a  church  it  was  an  element  of 
stability,  of  spiritual,  social  and  material  improvement, 
an  inspiration  to  .hope  and  progress.  Carolinians  knew 
that  he  felt  their  woes  as  his  own  and  shared  in  their 
struggle  upward  from  the  ruins  left  by  war.  It  was  said 
of  him  that  he  came  to  know  every  Catholic  in  the  State 
by  name,  as  well  as  a  multitude  of  Protestants. 

Many  of  the  Bishop's  journeys  were  made  in  districts 
where  the  lack  of  means  of  communication  presented 
great  obstacles.  On  his  travels  remote  from  railways  the 
vehicle  which  he  used  customarily  was  an  insecure  wagon 
of  a  type  locally  known  as  a  "democrat."  One  of  those  ^ 
who  later  recalled  this  old  wagon  said  of  it : 

"It  was  indeed  a  dilapidated  affair,  drawn  by  two 
horses.  The  Bishop  sometimes  had  a  young  priest  with 
him  who  drove,  or  a  colored  man  who  assisted.  The 
space  which  they  did  not  occupy  was  filled  with  packages 
of  clothing  and  such  things  as  sugar,  flour  and  medicines. 
Most  of  these  supplies  were  for  the  poor  families  with 
whom  they  might  stop ;  but  they  also  carried  their  clerical 
robes  for  ceremonies  and  food  for  themselves,  for  many  a 
time  did  that  old  wagon  stop  in  the  forest  where  they 
must  eat  their  noonday  meal. 

"We  often  asked  the  Bishop  to  give  up  the  old  wagon 
and  get  another,  for  it  finally  became  so  rickety  that  I 
thought  it  dangerous ;  to  break  down  twenty  miles  from 
any  human  habitation  is  not  a  trifling  matter.  But  he 
always  replied  that  he  thought  the  wagon  might  last  a 
while   longer.      When   some   of   the  Church   members 

•Mrs.  O'Connor. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS         95 

offered  to  buy  him  one,  he  answered :  'Friends,  you  can 
give  me  the  money,  if  you  will,  for  the  Church  needs  it, 
but  not  for  any  vehicle  for  my  own  use.'  " 

This  wagon,  despite  its  imperfections,  traversed  thou- 
sands of  miles  in  the  State  on  its  mission  of  mercy  and 
help,  bearing  him  who  would  one  day  speak  among  the 
leaders  of  the  world  with  a  voice  that  carried  authority. 
Repeatedly  he  risked  life  and  health  in  assisting  families 
ill  from  contagious  diseases.  Without  a  thought  of  per- 
sonal danger — those  who  knew  him  best  could  recall  no 
occasion  when  he  showed  any  sign  of  fear — he  entered 
straggling  hamlets  where  every  stranger  was  looked  upon 
by  the  clarmish  mountaineers  as  a  possible  enemy.  The 
whispered  terrors  of  the  "feud  belt"  could  not  deter 
him. 

So  rare  were  priests  in  North  Carolina  in  those  days 
that  they  sometimes  had  difficulty  in  identifying  them- 
selves. The  Rev.  Lawrence  P.  O'Connell,  of  the  Bishop's 
little  fold  of  three  clerics,  one  of  whom  sometimes  accom- 
panied him,  was  traveling  alone  near  Asheville,  when, 
worn  out  by  a  long  journey,  he  arrived  at  the  house  of 
a  Catholic  family  and  presented  himself.  The  woman 
of  the  house  had  been  imposed  upon  by  a  pretended 
clergyman  some  time  before  and  instantly  indicated  her 
suspicions  to  Father  O'Connell.  He  showed  her  his 
missal,  breviary  and  vestments,  which  he  carried  in  a 
valise,  but  still  she  was  unconvinced.  In  despair  the 
tired  priest  gave  up  the  attempt  and  turned  heart-sick 
from  the  door.  Seeking  spiritual  comfort,  he  sat  down 
beside  a  fence  and  began  saying  his  beads.    The  woman 


96  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

opened  the  door,  saw  him  at  his  devotions  and  was  con- 
vinced at  last. 

"Now,"  she  said,  "I  know  you  are  a  holy  man  of  God. 
I  can  be  deceived  by  other  things,  but  not  those  beads." 

She  welcomed  warmly  to  her  home  the  stranger  whom 
she  had  so  lately  rejected  with  scorn. 

In  making  a  visit  to  an  outlying  community  with  the 
third  of  his  priests,  the  Rev.  H.  P.  Northrop,^  the  man 
whose  guest  the  Bishop  was  to  be  drove  up  in  a  carriage 
sitting  bolt  upright  as  if  by  a  great  effort  and  gripping 
the  reins  tightly.  When  he  drew  nearer,  it  became 
apparent  that  he  was  intoxicated  and  was  trying  to  dis- 
charge his  function  without  betraying  himself.  The 
Bishop  reprimanded  him  severely,  saying  that  it  was  the 
first  time  in  many  years  when  a  Bishop  had  visited  the 
locality  and  that  it  was  due  to  the  circumstances  that 
the  host  should  conduct  himself  properly. 

"Your  Grace,"  was  the  ardent  reply,  *'I  felt  so  over- 
joyed because  a  Bishop  was  coming  that  I  just  could 
not  help  getting  drunk!" 

Making  the  best  of  circumstances,  the  Bishop  and 
Father  Northrop  entered  the  carriage  and  each  took  a 
position  on  one  side  of  their  host,  holding  him  erect  by 
their  combined  efforts  while  he  drove  them  to  their  desti- 
nation. 

Bishop  Gibbons  began  his  first  tour  of  the  vicariate 
on  November  lo,  a  little  more  than  a  week  after  he  had 
been  installed  by  Archbishop  Spalding.  Entries  in  the 
journal  which  he  began  to  keep  when  he  was  made  a 
Bishop  record  his  experiences  at  the  outset  of  that  trip. 

*  Afterward  Bishop  of  Charleston,  S.  C. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS         97 

They  reveal  the  painstaking  attention  to  details  which 
he  did  not  consider  it  unworthy  to  practice  in  his  work, 
and  which  often  in  the  course  of  his  life  gave  him  a 
marked  advantage  in  comparison  with  men  who  were 
less  thorough.  The  extent  of  his  success  in  breaking 
down  barriers  between  Catholics  and  Protestants  is  indi- 
cated in  a  number  of  the  entries.    Some  of  them  are :  ^^ 

"lo.  Father  Gross  and  myself  visited  Fayetteville, 
according  to  previous  engagement.  The  church  lot  in 
Fayetteville  is  300  x  100.  The  church  is  a  frame  build- 
ing, 40  X  60,  with  a  well-sounding  organ,  and  galleries 
running  all  around  the  church.  It  has  also  a  tower  roof.- 
The  building  is  sadly  in  need  of  repairs.  I  ordered  a 
shingle  roof  to  be  put  on  at  once,  at  a  cost  of  $155.  The 
outside  requires  painting;  the  shutters,  etc.,  should  be 
repaired  without  much  delay.  Adjoining  the  church  is 
a  neat  little  pastoral  residence,  with  three  rooms  and  a 
kitchen  on  the  premises.  This  is  the  oldest  church  in 
the  State,  or,  at  least,  is  on  the  site  of  the  oldest,  which 
was  built  in  1825 — afterward  burned.  The  present 
church,  St.  Patrick's,  was  built  about  1835  by  Rev.  Dr. 
McGinnis,  and  has  been  successively  in  charge  of  Fathers 
Whelan,  Murphy,  McGowan,  Ryan,  Dunne  and  Quigley. 
Bishop  England  is  said  to  have  visited  the  place  for  the 
first  time  in  1821. 

"11,  12.  I  preached  on  Wednesday  and  Thursday 
nights.  The  first  night  the  church  was  comfortably  filled. 
On  the  second  night,  available  space  in  the  pews,  aisles 
and  galleries  was  crowded.  Some  500  were  present,  in- 
cluding a  Presbyterian  and  a  Methodist  minister.  The 
entire  Catholic  population  of  Fayetteville  and  immediate 
vicinity  amounts  to  about  50.    The  sheriff  of  the  county, 

"The  extracts  from  Gibbons'  journal  given  in  this  work  are  literal 
transcriptions,  except  that  the  abbreviations  which  he  sometimes  used  are 
spelled  out  for  the  sake  of  clearness  to  the  reader. 


98  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Freedman's  Bureau  agent,  officer  commanding  U.  S. 
troops  and  clerk  of  the  court  are  numbered  among  the 
Catholics.  They  gave  me  an  invitation  to  be  their  guest 
at  the  hotel,  which  I  thought  it  better  to  decline. 

"13.  I  returned  to  Wilmington,  Father  Gross  hav- 
ing advanced  as  far  as  Egypt  ^^  to  visit  a  few  Catholics. 
He  will  visit  Fayetteville  the  third  Sunday  of  every 
month. 

"19.  Arrived  at  Goldsboro,  81  miles  from  Wilming- 
ton. The  population  numbers  about  3,500  souls,  of 
whom  thirty  are  Catholics.  I  preached  in  the  town  hall 
in  the  evening.  Father  Northrop,  who  met  me  here  and 
accompanies  me  on  my  visitation,  is  staying  with  me  at 
Mr.  Robinson's. 

"20.  I  confirmed  eight  persons,  all  the  children  of 
Mr.  Robinson.  Steps  will  soon  be  taken  for  the  erection 
of  a  Catholic  church  in  the  town.  I  appointed  three 
Catholics — Mr.  Robinson,  Mr.  Wood,  deputy  sheriff,  and 
Mr.  Duffy — to  secure  a  lot  and  raise  funds  for  the  erec- 
tion of  the  church.  The  Protestants  are  said  to  be  kindly 
disposed  and  willing  to  contribute  to  the  good  work. 
Father  Northrop  baptized  a  colored  girl,  previously  in- 
structed. 

"Arrived  at  Newbern,  about  60  miles  from  Golds- 
boro. The  church  is  in  excellent  order,  having  been 
recently  painted,  sanctuary  and  aisle  carpeted,  etc. 
Bishop  England  visited  this  city  in  1821,  '23,  24.  Steps 
were  taken  as  early  as  1824  to  erect  a  church,  in  which 
year  a  lot  was  secured.  The  church,  however,  was  not 
commenced  till  1839.  In  1841  it  was  completed.  In 
consequence  of  the  death  of  Bishop  England,  which  oc- 
curred in  1842,  the  church  was  not  dedicated  till  1844, 
when  that  ceremony  was  performed  by  Bishop  Reynolds. 
The  Church  of  St.  Paul  was  successively  under  the  pas- 
toral charge  of  Rev.  Messrs.  Barry  (afterward  Bishop 

"  A  town  in  Chatham  County. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS  99 

of  Savannah),  Byrne  (subsequently  Bishop  of  Little 
Rock),  Baker,  Whelan,  Fielding  (who,  I  am  informed, 
has  apostatized  and  now  resides  in  Columbia,  S.  C), 
Gillick,  Ferrall,  Murphy,  Doyle,  MuUoney,  Ed.  Quigley, 
Coffey,  Coghlan  and  Thos.  Quigley.  Father  Northrop 
is  now  in  charge.  The  Catholic  population  numbers  at 
present  about  no  souls,  which  shows  a  gratifying  in- 
crease, resulting  chiefly  from  conversions,  as  the  aggre- 
gate population  of  the  city  is  almost  stationary.  The 
congregation  are  devoted  to  their  young  and  zealous  pas- 
tor.   St.  Paul's  is  52  X  36. 

"22nd.  On  Sunday  morning  at  7.30  I  gave  confirma- 
tion to  twelve  persons,  six  of  whom  are  converts.  At 
High  Mass  I  preached  to  a  large  congregation,  the  great 
majority  of  whom  are  Protestants.  On  Sunday  night  I 
preached  another  sermon,  but  a  fire,  which  suddenly  broke 
out  in  a  neighbouring  frame  building,  alarmed  the  audi- 
ence, which  hastily  fled  from  the  church." 

Leaving  Newbern,  the  Bishop  stopped  at  Swift  Creek, 
where  he  confirmed  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nelson  in  a  garret, 
"the  only  unoccupied  place  at  our  disposal."  At  the 
town  of  Washington,  he  "found  the  door  of  our  good 
host,  Dr.  Gallagher,  barred  and  the  whole  family  absent 
at  a  wedding."  On  the  26th,  he  "said  Mass  in  Dr. 
Gallagher's  house  in  the  presence  of  nine  persons,  who 
comprised  the  entire  Catholic  population"  of  the  town. 
Among  the  worshipers  was  "an  old  lady  who  had  heard 
Mass  before  but  once  in  eight  years."  The  Bishop  was 
informed  that  "the  Episcopal  minister  had  announced 
from  his  pulpit  on  Sunday  that  I  would  preach  to-night, 
but  I  am  compelled  to  leave  in  order  to  meet  the  boat 
in  time  to  reach  Plymouth." 

He  jotted  down  in  his  journal  the  following  accounts 


100  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of  his  visit  to  the  last  named  town  and  his  subsequent 

movements : 

"Nov.  27.  Last  evening  we  reached  Plymouth,  a  dis- 
tance of  35  miles  from  Washington.  We  were  hospitably 
entertained  by  Capt.  McNamara,  who  had  preserved 
the  church  at  Newbern  from  destruction.  .  .  .  This 
morning  I  said  mass  at  Capt.  McNamara's.  After 
breakfast  Father  Northrop  and  I  drove  out  about  five 
miles  in  the  country  to  Mr.  Isaac  Swift's  house,  where  I 
baptized  and  confirmed  that  gentleman.  He  was  once  a 
rich  planter.  He  is  now  his  own  wood-cutter.  I  started 
to  pursue  the  journey  twelve  miles  further  for  the  pur- 
pose of  visiting  a  Catholic  family,  but  the  vehicle  broke 
down  and  we  were  obliged  to  return.  .  .  .  We  reached 
Edenton  tonight  by  steamer  across  the  Sound,  20  miles 
from  Plymouth. 

"30.  ...  At  night  preached  to  a  large  congregation, 
chiefly  of  Protestants.  St.  Ann's  Church  is  an  imposing 
brick  building,  the  finest  Catholic  Church  in  the  state, 
about  35  X  58.  .  .  .  The  Catholics  of  Edenton  and  vicin- 
ity number  18,  about  half  of  whom  are  converts.  They 
are  anxious  to  have  a  priest  residing  among  them,  who 
would  make  Edenton  his  centre  and  attend  from  it  the 
neighbouring  missions.  They  expressed  a  willingness  to 
give  him  a  competent  salary.  I  hope  that  Providence  will 
soon  enable  me  to  gratify  their  wishes.  Meantime,  I 
promised  to  ask  Father  O'Keefe  to  send  them,  if  possible, 
a  priest  once  a  month. 

"Dec.  2.  .  .  .  Reached  Littleton  about  12  M.  Found 
in  the  woods  a  family  of  Catholics  named  Divine,  con- 
sisting of  both  parents  and  ten  children,  two  of  whom  are 
married  in  the  neighborhood.  The  father  had  not  seen 
a  Bishop  before  for  36  years.  His  wife  is  a  North  Caro- 
linian and  a  convert.  This  man's  vigilance  and  the 
religious  education  of  his  children  are  truly  edifying. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS        101 

The  same  evening  we  went  six  miles  further  to  visit  two 
Catholic  families  named  Madden.  Whole  distance 
travelled  today,  66  miles. 

"7.  Arrived  in  Tarboro,  about  50  miles  from  Hali- 
fax. ...  I  preached  in  the  courthouse  in  the  morning 
and  evening  on  Sunday  to  a  large  audience.  The  most 
intelligent  citizens  of  the  town  were  present,  including 
three  judges,  one  of  whom  is  a  former  United  States 

senator. 

"8.  Reached  Wilson,  about  41  miles  from  Tarboro. 
...  I  preached  tonight  in  the  courthouse  to  a  respect- 
able congregation.  A  movement  is  also  being  made  here 
for  the  erection  of  a  church.  Many  Protestants  have 
promised  to  subscribe. 

"11.  Arrived  this  evening  at  Raleigh.  Wm.  Grimes, 
Esq.,  was  awaiting  our  arrival  at  the  depot  and  drove  us 
to  his  splendid  dwelling. 

"14.  Saturday  I  preached  in  the  morning  and  again 
in  the  evening  to  an  overflowing  congregation.  The 
members  of  the  legislature,  now  in  session,  attended  in 
large  numbers. 

"16.  Preached  again  in  Raleigh  tonight  and  prom- 
ised to  send  books  to  the  Attorney  General,  who  desires 
to  learn  more  of  the  Church,  with  the  view  of  becoming 
a  Catholic. 

"17.  Arrived  in  Wilmington  tonight  after  an 
absence  of  four  weeks.  The  following  is  a  brief  summary 
of  our  travel  and  its  results :  Number  of  miles  travelled 
by  rail,  stage  and  steamboat,  925 ;  number  of  towns  and 
stations  visited,  16;  number  of  Catholics  in  various 
places,  400;  converts  confirmed,  16;  total  number,  64; 
converts  baptized,  10;  total  number,  16." 

While  in  Raleigh  the  Bishop  wrote  to  Archbishop 
Spalding  reporting  upon  his  labors  of  the  first  six  weeks 
in  his  new  field.    This  was  the  letter : 


102  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"Raleigh,   N.   C, 
"December  15,   1868. 
"Most  Rev.  Dear  Archbishop: 

"After  a  long  and  arduous  campaign  of  four  weeks 
and  before  returning  to  Wilmington,  I  thought  a  few 
lines  would  be  interesting  to  you,  giving  you  an  account 
of  our  present  status  and  future  prospects. 

"You  will  rejoice  to  hear  that  I  have  been  received 
everywhere,  both  by  Protestants  and  Catholics,  with 
cordial  welcome.  Providence  seems  to  have  favored  us 
specially  by  placing  in  each  town  some  chosen  spirits 
who  take  care  of  Father  Northrop  and  myself,  and  who 
take  an  active  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  Church. 

"In  four  or  five  places  the  people  are  clamoring  for 
churches,  the  public  generally,  irrespective  of  religion, 
expressing  a  willingness  to  contribute.  Some,  it  is  true, 
are  influenced  in  this  respect  by  the  selfish  motive  of  in- 
viting immigrants,  others  by  a  spirit  of  inquiry,  Ameri- 
can fair  play,  and  by  an  entire  estrangement  from  the 
sects  which  surround  them.  The  Catholics,  of  course, 
have  a  higher  motive. 

"The  people  seem  very  desirous  of  hearing  a  Catholic 
priest  or  Bishop.  Wherever  I  have  preached,  whether 
in  churches  or  courthouses,  there  were  always,  without 
exception,  crowded  houses  and  the  greatest  attention  was 
manifested.  I  hope  curiosity  was  not  the  only  motive. 
Even  intelligent  people  are  strangely  ignorant  of  our 
faith.  One  gentleman  gave  me  a  very  curious  definition 
of  the  word  'Catholic,'  but  he  was  modest  enough  to 
ask  for  information. 

"I  have  spent  four  weeks  in  travelling  through  Father 
Northrop's  mission  and  am  not  done  yet.  Our  life  is 
extremely  varied.  Sometimes  we  have  to  share  the  same 
room  and  the  same  bed,  to  see  the  daylight  through  many 
a  crevice  and  to  live  on  corn  bread.  But  more  frequently 
we  enjoy  all  the  luxuries  of  the  season.    I  shall  not  soon 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS        103 

forget  the  kind  hospitality  of  Judge  Manly,  of  Newbern, 
of  Col.  Moore,  of  Edenton,  and  of  numerous  others  on 
the  route.  The  universal  Irish  race  is,  of  course,  every- 
where represented  and  they  are  always  defenders  of  the 
faith.  .  .  . 

"Here  in  Raleigh  we  have  received  every  mark  of 
respect.  The  proprietor  of  the  hotel — a  Protestant — 
had  rooms  prepared  for  us,  but  they  were  not  needed. 
Wm.  Grimes,  Esq.,  was  waiting  for  us  at  the  depot  in 
his  carriage.  He  drove  us  to  his  magnificent  dwelling 
in  the  suburbs.  Mrs.  Grimes  is  a  Catholic  and  I  am 
happy  to  say  that  he  is  not  far  from  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  ... 

"Yesterday  I  preached  twice  in  the  Catholic  Church 
to  crowded  houses.  The  legislature,  now  in  session, 
turned  out  en  masse.  .  .  . 

"Yours  in  Christ, 

"James  Gibbons." 

The  need  of  money  to  carry  on  the  work  was  pressing 
and  help  from  the  Propaganda  was  welcome.  On  De- 
cember 18  the  Bishop  made  this  entry  in  his  journal: 

"During  my  visitation  in  the  early  part  of  this  month, 
I  received  a  draft  for  1600  francs  from  the  Congregation 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  with  a  statement  that 
8000  francs  have  been  allowed  me  for  1868,  the  balance 
payable  at  some  future  time." 

There  were  many  indications  of  the  post-bellum  pov- 
erty of  the  people,  as  will  be  seen  in  some  of  the  follow- 
ing entries: 

"Dec.  23.  Wrote  to  Rock  Hill  Academy,  Md.,  ask- 
ing the  Brother  Director  to  admit  a  son  of  Dr.  to 

that  institution,  payment  to  be  made  next  year  on  condi- 
tion that  the  crops  will  be  successful. 


104  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"Jan.  24  [1869].  The  regulations  to  be  observed 
during  Lent,  which  I  issued  today,  are  the  same  as  those 
of  Baltimore,  except  that  milk  is  allowed  in  this  vicariate, 
owing  to  the  scarcity  of  tea  and  coffee  in  certain  sections 
of  the  State. 

"Feb.  22.  In  reply  to  a  circular  from  Bishop  Moore, 
recommending  a  general  subscription  in  behalf  of  the 
American  College  (at  Rome),  I  submitted  to  his  Lord- 
ship the  impoverished  condition  of  the  State  and  the 
smallness  of  the  Catholic  population,  expressing  my  re- 
gret at  not  being  able  to  contribute  to  the  fund." 

The  entries  continue: 

"June  2.  Visited  Lillington,  New  Hanover  County 
and  preached  at  night  in  the  Masonic  Hall. 

"July  11.  Today  I  installed  Rev.  J.  V.  McNamara, 
pastor  of  St.  John's  Church,  Raleigh,  at  High  Mass,  in 
the  presence  of  a  very  large  and  respectable  congregation. 
.  .  .  The  governor,  chief  justice,  several  of  the  associate 
judges,  and  many  other  prominent  citizens  were  present. 

"Aug.  1.  This  morning  (Sunday)  Father  O'Connell 
and  I,  accompanied  by  a  large  number  of  people,  went  to 
Concord  by  special  train,  where  I  dedicated  the  new 
church  under  the  invocation  of  St.  James  the  Apostle. 
The  Catholic  population  connected  with  Concord  num- 
bers about  sixty  souls,  all  converts,  with  one  exception. 

"3.  Last  night  I  preached  in  the  town  hall  (at 
Salisbury)  and  at  the  end  spoke  to  the  audience  on  the 
importance  of  having  a  Catholic  Church  in  their  midst. 
.  .  .  Yesterday  morning  I  said  Mass  in  Miss  Fisher's 
house  in  the  presence  of  the  Catholics  of  the  town  and 
confirmed  six  adults,  of  whom  one  is  a  convert. 

"5.  Reached  Morgantown,  about  80  miles  from  Salis- 
bury. We  could  discover  in  this  town  only  three  Catho- 
lics.   One  of  these,  Mr.  McGraw,  has  ten  children,  all 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS        105 

Protestants,  a  sad  instance  of  the  result  of  mixed  mar- 
riages. .  .  . 

"6.  By  private  conveyance  we  arrived  this  evening 
at  Moore's,  McDowell  County.  We  travelled  over  a 
beautiful  mountain  country.  The  scenery  about  Moore's 
is  sublime  and  the  climate  invigorating. 

"8.  Yesterday  we  arrived  at  Mr.  Malone's,  near 
Old  Fort,  fifteen  miles  from  Moore's.  I  preached  in 
the  evening  in  the  rear  of  Mr.  Malone's  house  in  the 
presence  of  a  considerable  number  of  persons.  .  .  .  Yes- 
terday morning  we  observed  the  total  eclipse  of  the  sun 
from  the  Blue  Ridge. 

"12.  We  arrived  in  Asheville  on  the  evening  of  the 
Qth  after  travelling  on  horseback  24  miles.  ...  I  have 
authorized  Rev.  Jeremiah  O'Connell  to  appeal  at  once 
to  the  citizens  of  Asheville  for  subscriptions  and  to  com- 
mence the  erection  of  a  brick  church. 

"15.  Preached  this  evening  in  the  Courthouse  of 
Asheville." 

The  next  day  the  Bishop  returned  to  Wilmington,  hav- 
ing completed  his  second  episcopal  tour  in  the  State,  in 
the  course  of  which  he  had  travelled  985  miles  and  con- 
firmed 106  persons. 

In  his  trip  to  Salisbury  mentioned  in  his  journal  the 
Bishop  was  the  guest  of  the  family  of  Miss  Fisher,  who 
had  visited  him  in  Baltimore  to  receive  instruction  in 
the  faith.     Of  that  occasion  she  wrote : 

"Among  the  memories  of  the  time,  the  most  vivid  is 
of  his  first  visit  to  Salisbury,  one  of  the  oldest  colonial 
towns  in  the  state,  yet  which  contained  hardly  more  than 
a  dozen  Catholics.  There  was  no  (Catholic)  church  in 
the  place— churches  were  few  and  far  between  m  North 
Carolina   in   those   days— and   like   many   priests  who 


106  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

came,  the  Bishop  said  Mass  in  the  drawing  room  of  the 
private  house  in  which  he  was  entertained  and  there  ad- 
ministered the  Sacrament  of  Confirmation  to  men  and 
women,  grown  to  maturity,  who  had  never  before  seen 
a  Bishop  of  their  Church.  How  clearly  memory  recalls 
him  on  this  visit  and  others  which  followed — the  slender 
form,  the  pale,  ascetic  face,  the  manner  full  of  kindness 
and  the  unfailing  suavity!" 

Prolonged  exposure  in  a  furious  storm  on  one  of  his 
trips  came  near  costing  the  precious  life  of  the  young 
Vicar  Apostolic.  This  expedition  was  to  Newton  Grove, 
nearly  one  hundred  miles  from  Wilmington,  in  a  region 
of  almost  primeval  wildness,  where  the  most  remarkable 
of  all  the  missions  which  he  was  instrumental  in  develop- 
ing in  North  Carolina  sprang  up.  His  own  account  of 
the  origin  of  this  mission  and  of  his  hazardous  journey 
was: 

"While  I  was  absent  in  Europe  at  the  Vatican  Coun- 
cil, in  1870,  a  letter  came  through  the  post  addressed 
To  any  Catholic  Priest  of  Wilmington,  N.  C  Father 
Gross  received  the  letter,  which  was  one  of  inquiry  about 
the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  from  Dr.  J.  C. 
Monk.  A  correspondence  was  opened  between  us  after 
my  return  from  Rome.  I  recommended  certain  Catholic 
books.  Dr.  Monk  procured  these,  and,  having  more, 
fully  instructed  himself  and  his  family  in  the  faith,  he 
and  his  household  were  all  received  into  the  Church.  He 
came  to  Wilmington  to  make  a  profession  of  faith.  I 
baptized  the  family  and  learned,  with  the  deepest  inter- 
est, of  the  circumstances  that  had  led  to  his  conversion 
and  of  his  hopes  in  regard  to  the  community  in  which  he 
had  lived  all  his  life  as  a  prominent  physician. 

"This  was  a  remarkable  conversion.  The  finger  of  God 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS       107 

was  here.  Nor  was  the  conversion  to  be  barren  of  results. 
Dr.  Monk  returned  home,  after  receiving  my  promise  of 
a  visit  to  his  family.  In  due  time  Father  Gross  visited 
Newton  Grove,  and  to  a  great  throng  in  the  open  air 
preached  on  the  true  faith.  From  that  time  an  earnest 
inquiry  into  the  tenets  of  the  Catholic  Church  sprang 
up  among  the  people. 

"Dr.  Monk  was  a  providential  man  for  the  diffusion 
of  the  faith.  He  was  highly  respected,  and  as  a  physician 
had  access  to  every  family  in  all  that  region.  His  zeal 
to  enlighten  the  people  was  surpassed  only  by  his  solid 
piety  and  good  example.  Possessed  of  means,  he  liber- 
ally aided  in  every  way  the  spread  of  the  faith. 

"A  few  months  later  I  redeemed  my  promise  of  a  visit 
to  Newton  Grove.  The  trip  came  near  imperiling  my 
life.  I  remember  it  was  the  month  of  March.  The  day 
of  my  departure  opened  with  difficulties.  The  railway 
train  left  very  early  in  the  morning.  Rising  at  4  o'clock, 
I  found  the  weafher  cold  and  rainy.  The  carriage  failing 
to  call  for  me,  I  was  compelled,  with  the  help  of  a  boy, 
to  carry  my  large,  heavy  valise,  packed  with  mission  ar- 
ticles, the  distance  of  a  mile  to  the  depot.  As  I  traveled 
northward,  the  rain  became  a  furious  storm  of  sleet  and 
snow.  Reaching  the  station,  I  found  the  brother  of  Dr. 
Monk,  who  had  come  to  meet  me,  on  horseback,  with  ax 
in  hand,  to  cut  our  way  through  the  forests.  The  sleet 
and  snow  had  covered  the  country  and  bound  to  earth,  in 
many  places  across  our  course,  the  pine  saplings  that 
grew  in  dense  bodies  up  to  the  margin  of  the  road.  A 
neighbor  was  with  him  to  take  me  in  his  buggy. 

*'We  started.  It  was  a  journey  to  be  remembered — a 
trip  of  twenty-one  miles  in  the  teeth  of  wind,  rain,  sleet 
and  snow.  After  a  short  exposure,  I  was  all  but  frozen 
by  the  violence  of  the  storm  and  the  intense  cold.  We 
had  ridden  a  number  of  miles,  when,  to  my  delight,  my 
friend  drew  rein  at  his  own  house.     I  entered  the  hos- 


108  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

pitable  door,  and  the  change  was  most  grateful — from 
cold  and  misery  to  warmth  and  comfort. 

"In  a  few  moments  the  housewife  had  brought  in  a  hot 
bath  for  my  frozen  feet,  and  the  husband  a  supplement 
in  the  way  of  a  hot  drink.  The  generous  hospitality  re- 
stored, in  a  very  short  time,  my  almost  perished  frame. 
They  were  both  strangers,  but  the  closest  friends  could 
not  have  treated  me  more  kindly.  I  remained  for  dinner, 
and,  as  the  weather  had  become  clear,  we  proceeded  on 
our  journey. 

"The  next  morning  being  Sunday,  I  celebrated  Mass 
in  Dr.  Monk's  house,  and  preached  there  later  in  the 
day  to  an  earnest  audience.  The  religious  interest  was 
profound.  It  promised  to  become,  as  it  truly  did,  a  move- 
ment of  the  whole  district  toward  the  Catholic  Church. 

"Regular  appointments  were  made  for  a  visit  by  a 
priest,  and  in  a  short  time  the  brother  of  Dr.  Monk,  with 
his  family,  embraced  the  Catholic  faith.  The  congrega- 
tions that  met  on  the  occasions  of  the  priest's  visits  to 
Newton  Grove  were  so  large  that  it  became  necessary  to 
erect  a  temporary  structure  of  rough  boards  for  their 
accommodation.  This  tabernacle  answered  admirably 
for  the  services,  which  were  arranged  to  suit  the  primitive 
state  of  affairs  in  that  section.  The  priest  appeared  on 
the  rostrum  in  his  secular  dress,  and,  after  prayer  and 
reading  of  the  Scriptures,  delivered  a  long  instruction  on 
the  Catholic  Church  or  some  one  of  its  doctrines.  The 
preaching,  directed  at  the  conversion  of  the  people,  was 
necessarily  simple  in  its  character,  historical  and  didac- 
tic. Catechisms  and  books  of  instruction  were  freely  dis- 
tributed after  the  sermons.  An  attractive  feature  of  these 
services  was  the  singing,  by  select  voices,  of  beautiful 
hymns. 

"The  Catholic  movement  daily  gathered  strength  by 
the  accession  of  many  of  the  most  respectable  families  in 
the  vicinity.    Within  a  short  time  the  number  of  con- 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS       109 

versions  ^^  warranted  the  erection  of  a  church  and  school- 
house.  On  their  completion,  this  apostolic  mission  be- 
came firmly  established  and  continues  to  prosper."  ^^ 

Another  church  sprang  up  from  a  visit  by  a  priest  to 
three  Irish  brothers,  peddlers,  who  had  settled  eighty 
miles  from  a  church.  Their  families  were  baptized,  and 
conversions  among  the  country  folk  multiplied.  In  a 
short  time  a  flourishing  parish  was  established. 

A  missionary  found  at  Chinquepin,  a  village  far  in  the 
recesses  of  the  North  Carolina  pines,  an  old  Irish  woman 
who  had  not  seen  a  priest  in  forty-five  years.  She  said 
that  her  faith  was  still  as  fresh  as  her  native  sod,  and 
that  she  had  never  omitted  her  prayers.  A  congregation 
of  converts  was  founded,  for  whom  a  chapel  and  a  school 
were  subsequently  erected. 

Among  the  congregation  at  Newbem,  of  which  Father 
Northrop  was  in  charge,  was  Judge  Mathias  Manly,  son- 
in-law  of  Judge  Gaston,  the  most  conspicuous  Catholic 
whom  North  Carolina  had  produced.  Judge  Gaston  had 
been  a  leader  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1865, 
which,  chiefly  in  response  to  his  eloquent  pleas,  abolished 
the  restrictions  that  had  prevented  Catholics  from  hold- 
ing certain  important  offices  of  trust  and  established  full 
religious  liberty  in  that  State. 

Father  O'Connell's  church  was  in  the  flourishing  city 
of  Charlotte.  That  priest,  whom  the  Bishop  appointed 
as  his  Vicar  General,  had  served  as  a  Confederate  chap- 
lain and  after  the  war  had  taken  up  missionary  work  in 
Charlotte  and  the  district  roundabout. 

"The  number  of  conversions  was  300.  tt  •    j   e.  * 

"Reminiscences  of  Cardinal   Gibbons  read  before  the   United   States 
Catholic  Historical  Society  in  New  York. 


110  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  Bishop's  journal  contains  no  entry  from  Septem- 
ber 20,  1869,  to  October  4,  1870,  owing  to  his  attendance 
at  the  Ecumenical  Council  in  Rome.  In  his  absence  im- 
provements to  St.  Thomas'  Church,  in  Wilmington,  were 
completed.    He  thus  described  them  on  his  return: 

"The  Church  has  been  enlarged  and  much  improved. 
The  enlargement  of  the  building  has  been  24  x  40  feet, 
the  principal  part  of  which  forms  my  present  commodi- 
ous dwelling.  Total  cost,  including  Russell's  lot,  en- 
largement and  improvement  of  church,  marble  altar  and 
paintings — $7000." 

The  Bishop  set  out  in  November,  1870,  for  a  second 
trip  over  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  visiting  many 
towns.  Conversions  were  still  numerous.  In  his 
journal,  under  date  of  November  30,  he  wrote: 

"A  certain  Irish  Catholic  in  Plymouth  was  induced  to 
join  the  Baptists.  Immersed,  he  was  invited  to  say 
prayer.  He  gave  out,  'Hail,  Holy  Queen  I'  The  aston- 
ishment of  the  audience  was  immense.  He  has  since 
returned  to  the  Church." 

Further  contributions  from  the  Propaganda  were 
noted.  The  Bishop  wrote  July  13,  1871,  that  he  had 
returned  from  the  diocese  of  Albany,  where  he  went  to 
collect  funds. 

In  August,  1871,  he  started  on  a  visitation  to  the 
western  part  of  the  State.  From  the  town  of  Company 
Shops  to  Greensboro  he  was  "conveyed  on  a  freight  en- 
gine." At  Gaston  he  found  a  congregation  of  80,  where 
there  had  been  but  36  on  his  first  visit,  two  years  before. 
At  Lincolnton  he  "preached  to  a  large  audience  in  the 
courthouse,  the  people  being,  no  doubt,  moved  by  some 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS       111 

curiosity  to  see  the  first  Bishop  who  was  ever  present  in 
that  town."  He  found  that  a  handsome  church  had  been 
erected  by  this  time  at  Asheville,  which  he  dedicated 
September  24,  preaching  on  "Charity." 

Entries  of  this  kind  multiply  in  the  journal,  which 
forms  a  concise  record  of  apostolic  activity  that  must 
have  taxed  the  Bishop's  energies  to  the  utmost. 

Bishop  Gibbons  recognized  that  schools  were  one  of 
the  greatest  necessities  of  the  stricken  South  and  a  potent 
means  of  propagating  religion.  Of  his  persistent  efforts 
to  cooperate  in  the  educational  development  of  North 
Carolina,  Father  Gross  wrote: 

"We  can  testify  to  his  self-sacrificing  zeal  for  the 
establishment  of  Catholic  schools  throughout  the  vicari- 
ate under  stress  of  direst  poverty  and  in  most  adverse 
surroundings.  To  this  end  he  not  only  sacrificed  money 
and  time  and  labor  in  begging  money  but  descended  to 
teach  himself  daily  a  class  in  the  parochial  school  to  help 
and  encourage  the  priests  whose  services  for  the  want  of 
lay  teachers  had  to  be  gratuitously  engaged."  ^* 

With  poverty  on  every  hand  and  the  long  train  of  ills 
that  come  with  it,  Bishop  Gibbons  had  realized  before 
he  left  Baltimore  that  the  work  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy 
was  greatly  needed  in  his  vicariate.  Less  than  a  week 
after  he  had  been  installed  he  made  this  entry  in  his 
journal: 

"Wrote  to  Rev.  Francis  MacCormack  ^'  at  Westport 
in  reference  to  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  whom  I  desire  to  see 
established  in  Wilmington  at  an  early  day." 

"The  Rev.  Mark  S.  Gross  In  the  Carmelite  Review,  May,  1895. 
"This  was  his  former  schoolmate  in  Ireland,  afterwards  Bishop  of 
Galway. 


112  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Within  a  year  the  indefatigable  Bishop  had  raised  the 
money  with  which  to  buy  ample  quarters  in  Wilmington 
for  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  a  group  of  whom  he  brought 
from  the  mother  house  in  Charleston.  He  installed  them 
in  the  Peyton  mansion,  an  old-fashioned  Southern  home 
which  he  had  purchased  for  $16,000 — a  fortune  in  Caro- 
lina in  those  days.  The  people  wondered  whence  the 
money  had  come.  Only  a  small  part  of  it  had  been 
raised  in  the  vicariate,  the  Bishop  having  obtained  most 
of  the  sum  in  the  course  of  several  visits  to  the  Northern 
States.  He  raised  more  than  $5,000  in  Albany  alone. 
The  Sisters  founded  schools  at  Charlotte  and  Hickory  as 
well  as  at  Wilmington. 

One  of  the  most  important  steps  that  marked  the 
Bishop's  administration  was  the  establishment  of  Mary 
Help  Abbey  by  the  Benedictine  order  at  Belmont,  near 
Charlotte.  The  Rev.  J.  J.  O'Connell  gave  for  this  pur- 
pose his  estate  of  500  acres.  Although  the  field  seemed 
far  from  favorable,  application  was  made  to  Arch  Abbot 
Wimmer,  of  St.  Vincent's  Abbey,  Pennsylvania,  to  sup- 
ply a  colony  for  the  vicariate.  A  similar  petition  from  a 
far  more  promising  quarter  was  presented  to  the  Abbot 
at  the  same  time  but  he  chose  North  Carolina  and  the 
Rev.  Herman  Wolf,  who  had  been  a  Lutheran  minister, 
was  sent  to  Belmont  as  prior. 

For  a  time  it  seemed  that  Arch  Abbot  Wimmer's  apos- 
tolic zeal  had  outweighed  his  judgment.  Temporary 
shelter  for  the  fathers  was  obtained  in  a  frame  tavern,  a 
hundred  years  old,  of  revolutionary  celebrity,  and  they 
began  their  work  with  their  customary  thoroughness,  but 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS       llS 

the  outlook  continued  to  be  so  discouraging  that  the 
abandonment  of  the  priory  was  debated  in  the  chapter 
of  the  Abbey  in  Pennsylvania.  While  the  decision  on 
this  point  wavered  a  number  of  young  Benedictines  vol- 
unteered to  go  to  Belmont  if  allowed  to  take  with  them 
an  Abbot  of  their  own  selection.  Their  offer  was  accepted 
and  they  chose  the  Rev.  Leo  Haid  as  their  leader  in  the 
undertaking.^*^  With  his  administration  marked  prog- 
ress began.  A  group  of  handsome  and  ample  buildings 
was  erected  and  St.  Mary's  College  was  launched  as  one 
of  the  successful  educational  institutions  of  the  South,  a 
training  school  for  native  Southern  clergy  so  much 
needed  in  the  work  of  the  Church. 

Indeed,  one  of  Bishop  Gibbons'  chief  obstacles  had 
been  to  obtain  the  services  of  a  sufficient  number  of 
priests  to  keep  pace  with  the  congregations  and  institu- 
tions which  he  founded.  Before  he  left  Baltimore  he 
had  realized  his  possible  difficulties  in  this  respect,  as 
the  following  entries  in  his  journal  for  1868  show: 

"Sep.  25.  Daniel  Driscoll,  of  Taunton,  Mass., 
18  years  old;  Patrick  Moore,  of  Connecticut,  20  years 
old  and  John  P.  Doyle,  of  Kentucky,  17  years  old,  have 
promised  in  the  presence  of  their  confessor  to  devote 
themselves  to  my  diocese.  They  are  now  studying  at 
St.  Charles  College.  I  have  promised  to  raise  the  money 
necessary  for  their  education  and  support,  if  other  means 
fail. 

"Oct.  10.  Mr.  Hands,  heretofore  of  the  diocese  of 
Hartford,  has  attached  himself  to  the  vicariate  apostolic 

"Abbott  Haid  afterwards  became  Vicar  Apostolic  of  North  Carolina 
and  titular  Bishop  of  Messene,  being  consecrated  by  Cardinal  Gibbons, 
July   I,   1888. 


114.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of    North    Carolina.      He    commenced    theology    this 
year."  ^^ 

The  spiritual  rewards  which  these  young  soldiers  of 
the  Cross  might  obtain  were  the  only  incentives  to  their 
zeal.  Not  only  was  the  work  to  which  they  devoted 
themselves  full  of  obstacles,  but  they  were  altogether  un- 
salaried. As  the  field  was  developed  and  the  success  of 
Bishop  Gibbons  became  known  in  other  dioceses,  it  be- 
came less  difficult  to  obtain  outside  help. 

The  impressions  which  Bishop  Gibbons  received  in 
North  Carolina  were  among  the  most  profound  and  de- 
cisive of  his  life.  Young,  ardent  and  intensely  alert  to 
conditions  which  surrounded  him,  he  formed  there  defi- 
nite views  and  aims  from  which  he  never  departed.  Be- 
fore he  had  been  sent  out  as  Vicar  Apostolic  his  thoughts 
had  followed,  in  the  main,  the  normal  channels  of  those 
of  a  young  priest  schooled  in  the  repressive  discipline  of 
the  seminary  and  thrust  into  the  active  labors  of  a  parish, 
where  he  saw  few  persons  not  of  his  own  faith.  In  the 
vicariate,  overwhelmingly  Protestant  in  population,  he 
was  confronted  with  obstacles  which  brought  out  all  his 
resourcefulness,  forcing  him  to  choose  between  timidity 
and  daring.  To  have  subsided  into  a  routine  of  minis- 
tering faithfully  to  the  handful  of  Catholics  in  the  State 
and  such  others  as  might  fall  to  his  spiritual  care  by  the 
ordinary  processes  of  accretion  was  an  attitude  of  mind 
of  which  he  was  incapable.  He  could  never  accept  even 
partial  defeat  in  a  cause  that  enlisted  his  sympathies  to 
the  full.    If  the  Church  in  North  Carolina  were  to  grow 

"These  two  early  entries  in  the  Bishop's  journal  were  made  in  Latin, 
which  he  abandoned  as  being  too  cumbersome,  and  nearly  all  the  others 
are  in  English. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MISSION  LABORS        116 

with  strong  vitality,  the  growth  must  be  among  non- 
Catholics,  even  for  the  most  part  among  people  in  com- 
munities where  the  Catholic  Church  was  distrusted  and 
shunned  with  the  force  of  misunderstandings  that  were 
generations  old.  His  problem  was  to  overcome  a  mass 
prejudice  or  allow  it  to  nullify  his  best  efforts.  Only 
by  conquering  it  could  he  lay  a  foundation  for  the  rapid 
spread  of  his  own  faith. 

Thus  by  simple  force  of  circumstances  he  came  to  study 
the  non-Catholic  viewpoint  in  order  that  he  might  make 
his  appeal  with  hopefulness.  He  conceded  to  well-dis- 
posed persons  not  of  his  faith  a  desire  equal  to  his  own 
for  the  truths  of  Christianity.  In  all  works  inspired  by 
the  brotherhood  of  man,  he  maintained  cordial  contact 
and  cooperation  with  them.  He  was  not  less  a  Catholic 
when  he  left  North  Carolina  than  when  he  went  there. 
In  fact,  it  seems  that  the  foundations  of  his  belief  had 
been  strengthened  by  opposition;  but  he  had  acquired  a 
broad  charity,  a  wide  horizon  of  view,  from  which  he 
never  separated  himself  in  later  life  and  which  stamped 
him  preeminently  as  a  friend  of  men  of  other  creeds. 
Impressions  gained  in  country  towns  and  secluded  rural 
homes  were  felt  later  in  the  Vatican  itself. 


CHAPTER  VI 
YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL 

The  call  of  the  Church  went  out  to  Bishop  Gibbons 
summoning  him  to  Rome  from  his  mission  field  among 
the  primitive  solitudes  of  the  mountains  and  the  peace  of 
the  sparsely  populated  valleys  of  North  Carolina.  It 
went  out  equally  to  the  Bishops  on  the  further  waters  of 
the  Yangtse  Kiang,  in  the  morasses  of  Central  Africa 
and  wherever  throughout  the  world  the  Hierarchy  had 
spread  from  the  seat  of  Peter.  For  the  first  time  since  the 
Council  of  Trent,  300  years  before,  there  was  to  be  an 
ecumenical  assembly  of  the  Church,  and  all  the  Bishops 
were  convoked  to  deliberate  in  the  providence  of  God 
upon  the  welfare  of  the  souls  of  men. 

Gibbons  had  served  his  vicariate  scarcely  a  year  when 
the  convening  of  the  Vatican  Council  wrought  this  trans- 
formation in  the  background  of  his  life  and  labor,  one  of 
the  most  striking  that  could  come  to  any  man.  The  lone 
missionary  traveler  of  the  hills  was  now  to  sit  in  the  most 
august  assemblage  which  the  world  sees,  with  an  equal 
voice  in  its  decisions  that  would  carry  the  full  weight  of 
spiritual  authority  over  250,000,000  Catholics.  From 
an  atmosphere  of  deep-seated  mistrust  of  Catholic  doc- 
trine, he  was  shifted  into  the  most  exalted  tribunal  for 

the  expression  of  that  doctrine.     Both  experiences  sank 

116 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL    117 

deep  into  his  receptive  mind  and  both  served  to 
strengthen  his  preparation  for  the  leadership  which  lay 
almost  at  his  feet. 

For  American  Catholics  the  Council  of  the  Vatican  had 
a  meaning  which  they  had  not  known.  When  the  Bish- 
ops sat  at  Trent,  America  had  been  discovered  only  a 
short  time  and  not  all  of  them  were  sure  that  it  was  not  a 
part  of  the  mysterious  Indies.  So  secure  was  the  Papacy 
in  its  political  power  that  Alexander  VI  had  but  recently 
issued  his  Bull  of  Demarcation  giving  to  Portugal  all  of 
the  newly  discovered  lands  east  of  a  line  loo  leagues 
west  of  the  Azores  and  to  Spain  all  to  the  westward. 
America  had  no  episcopate  and  only  a  few  adventurous 
priests  had  gone  forth  as  messengers  of  the  faith  to  the 
unknown  peoples  scattered  over  its  vast  area.  Now  it 
was  the  home  of  many  millions  of  Catholics,  and  the 
Pontiffs  were  beginning  to  see  in  its  future  the  Church's 
brightest  hope  for  the  expansion  of  her  spiritual  influ- 
ence. Of  the  737  members  who  sat  in  the  Vatican  Coun- 
cil 113  were  from  North  and  South  America. 

There  had  been,  too,  an  immense  development  of  the 
Catholic  faith  among  the  English-speaking  peoples.  In 
the  Council  of  Trent  England  was  represented  by  one 
prelate  and  Ireland  by  three;  there  was  no  Bishop  from 
Scotland.  The  English-speaking  episcopate  at  the  Vat- 
ican Council  marshaled  a  strength  of  more  than  120 
members,  assembled  from  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
England,  Ireland  and  Scotland,  Oceania,  the  Indies  and 
Africa.  Bishop  Gibbons  later  hazarded  the  prediction 
that  "at  the  next  Ecumenical  Council,  if  held  within  a 
hundred  years,  the  representatives  of  the  English  Ian- 


118  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 


guage  will  equal,  if  they  do  not  surpass,  in  number  those 
of  any  other  tongue."  * 

In  the  overshadowing  issue  of  the  Vatican  Council  the 
English-speaking  Bishops  had  an  especial  concern,  be- 
cause their  work  was  among  predominantly  Protestant 
populations.  That  issue  was  the  declaration  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  infallible  teaching  office  of  the  Roman  Pon- 
tiffs. The  American  Bishops  did  not  question  the  truth 
of  the  doctrine;  they  unalterably  adhered  to  it  in  both 
belief  and  practise.  Some  of  them  could  not  see,  how- 
ever, any  use  in  defining  it  at  that  time  and  were  strongly 
of  the  opinion  that  it  would  raise  another  barrier  between 
them  and  the  Protestants  when  their  Church  was  at  last 
piercing  the  clouds  of  misrepresentation  which  had  dark- 
ened her  pathway  so  long. 

True,  the  doctrine  sought  to  be  defined  was  very  dif- 
ferent from  a  declaration  of  personal  infallibility  on  any 
or  all  subjects,  but  the  American  Bishops  regarded  with 
misgivings  the  prospect  that  non-Catholics  would  under- 
stand it  in  that  light.  In  outline  it  was  that  the  Pontiff, 
when  speaking  in  the  exercise  of  his  office  as  the  shepherd 
of  all  Christians,  and  declaring  a  doctrine  of  faith  and 
morals  to  be  held  by  the  Universal  Church,  was  infallible. 

The  chief  obstacle  to  the  spread  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  the  United  States  had  been  the  impression  that 
she  was  subject  to  foreign  control.  Enlightened  Ameri- 
cans of  Protestant  ancestry  could  not  wholly  reconcile 
themselves  to  Papal  supremacy  of  a  universal  Church.  It 
did  not  convince  them  to  be  informed  that  the  definition 

*'Tersonal  Reminiscences  of  the  Vatican  Council,"  Cardinal  Gibbons 
ID  the  North  American  Review  for  April,  1894, 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL    119 

of  the  dogma  was  merely  an  expression  of  a  belief  and 
tradition  long  held  and  that  it  was  without  bearing  upon 
civil  government. 

From  the  time  of  Henry  VIII  this  had  been  a  sub- 
ject which  had  aroused  English  Protestants  to  defiant 
denial.  Sovereigns  in  their  coronation  oaths  at  West- 
minster had  abjured  it  as  a  heresy.  In  continental 
Europe,  whence  came  the  chief  support  of  the  movement 
to  declare  the  doctrine,  it  had  been  accepted  so  long  in 
its  true  meaning  that  the  question  appeared  there  in  a 
different  light  from  that  in  which  it  presented  itself  to 
English-speaking  churchmen. 

Only  two  of  the  Cardinals  whom  Pius  IX  consulted 
in  December,  1864,  when  he  first  announced  that  he  had 
been  deliberating  regarding  an  Ecumenical  Council,  spoke 
of  Papal  infallibility.  A  few  alluded  to  the  preservation 
of  the  Papacy  as  a  temporal  power,  theu  supported  by 
troops  of  Napoleon  III  in  the  midst  of  Italian  hostility. 
Nearly  all  of  the  Cardinals,  however,  strongly  advised 
that  a  Council  be  convoked.  They  declared  it  to  be  their 
opinion  that  the  especial  characteristic  of  the  time  was 
a  tendency  to  overthrow  the  ancient  Christian  institutions 
founded  upon  a  supernatural  principle  and  to  erect  a  new 
order,  based  upon  natural  reason  alone.  The  Cardinals 
dwelt  upon  the  need  of  amending  the  discipline  of  the 
Church,  untouched  for  three  hundred  years ;  of  better  pro- 
vision for  the  education  of  the  clergy  and  the  government 
of  monastic  orders,  and  for  bringing  the  laity  to  a  more 
general  obedience  to  ecclesiastical  laws. 

.  Pius  deliberated  long  before  finally  deciding  to  con- 
voke the  Council.    The  bull  of  indiction  was  dated  June 


120  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

29,  1868,  and  the  tremendous  work  of  preparing  in  detail 
for  the  labors  of  the  gathering  began.  It  was  to  be  an 
"extraordinary  remedy  for  the  extraordinary  evils  of  the 
Christian  world."  ^ 

Bishop  Gibbons  sailed  from  Baltimore  in  the  company 
of  Archbishop  Spalding  and  other  American  prelates  in 
October,  1869.^  He  said  of  his  association  with  his 
friend  and  patron  in  the  course  of  that  journey: 

"I  was  his  inseparable  companion  in  our  voyage  across 
the  Atlantic,  during  our  sojourn  in  England,  in  France, 
in  Italy  and  in  Rome.  For  ten  months  we  sat  at  the  same 
table  and  slept  under  the  same  roof." 

What  emotions  swept  the  imagination  of  the  young 
Bishop  as  he  beheld  for  the  first  time  the  Eternal  City, 
the  chosen  seat  of  the  successors  of  Peter  I  Ardor  tinged 
his  view  as  he  gazed  upon  the  storied  Vatican,  in  whose 
basilica  he  was  to  sit  with  the  fathers  of  the  Church  from 
every  quarter  of  the  globe.  The  experiences  which  befell 
him  in  the  crowds  that  flocked  to  Rome  during  the  ses- 
sions of  the  Council  fascinated  and  stimulated  him.  He 
wrote : 

"At  the  close  of  the  first  solemn  session  the  prelates 
passed  out  from  the  Council  chamber  into  St.  Peter's 
Church,  and  mingled  with  the  crowd  of  some  50,000  spec- 
tators. In  advancing  toward  the  front  door  of  St. 
Peter's,  I  became  separated  from  Archbishop  Spalding, 
who  always  favored  me  with  a  seat  in  his  carriage.  I 
was  as  much  bewildered  as  a  stranger  would  be  in  a  Lon- 
don fog,  and  as  I  was  utterly  unacquainted  with  the  sur- 
roundings, I  did  not  attempt  to  find  my  way  to  the  car- 

'  Cardinal  Manning,  True  Story  of  the  Vatican  Council. 
^Catholic  Mirror,  October  23,  1869. 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL   121 

riage  which  was  awaiting  us  in  one  of  the  many  courts 
of  the  Vatican.  The  rain  was  pouring  in  torrents,  a  car- 
riage could  not  be  secured  at  any  price,  and,  encumbered 
as  I  was  with  the  impedimenta  of  cope  and  mitre,  a  jour- 
ney on  foot  to  the  American  College,  a  mile  or  more  away, 
was  out  of  the  question. 

*T  applied  in  vain  to  the  occupants  of  several  car- 
riages, but  all  the  seats  were  engaged.  At  last,  when  it 
was  growing  dark,  a  solitary  carriage  remained  on  the 
piazza,  occupied  by  a  Bishop.  It  was  my  last  chance.  I 
requested  him  to  give  me  a  seat,  and  explained  my  help- 
less condition,  speaking  to  him  in  French,  as  that  was 
the  most  popular  language  among  the  prelates. 

"The  Bishop  looked  at  me  with  a  good-humored  smile, 
which  seemed  to  say:  T  think  you  understand  English 
quite  as  well  as  French.'  And  then  he  replied  to  me  in 
English:  'The  carriage,  my  lord,  is  engaged  for  five  of 
us,  but  we  cannot  leave  you  stranded.  We  must  make 
room  for  you.'  Rarely  did  our  English  tongue  sound  so 
sweet  in  my  ears,  and  seldom  was  an  act  of  kindness 
more  gratefully  accepted.  My  good  Samaritan  proved  to 
be  a  Bishop  from  the  wilds  of  Australia."  * 

The  oldest  Bishop  who  sat  in  the  Council  was  in  his 
eighty-fifth  year,  while  the  age  of  Gibbons,  the  youngest, 
was  just  half  a  century  less.  He  became  the  last  sur- 
vivor of  that  memorable  gathering.  "My  youth  and  in- 
experience," he  wrote,  "imposed  upon  me  a  discreet 
silence  among  my  elders.  I  do  not  remember  to  have 
missed  a  single  session  and  was  an  attentive  listener  at 
all  the  debates." 

When  he  arrived  in  Rome  it  appeared  that  the  ques- 
tion of  Papal  infallibility  was  not  likely  to  come  before 

*  "Personal   Reminiscences  of  the  Vatican   Council,"  Cardinal  Gibbons 
in  the  North  American  Revieiu,  April,  1894. 


122  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

the  Council.  The  commission  which  had  framed  the 
schemata^  or  list  of  topics  to  be  considered,  had  agreed 
with  but  one  dissenting  voice  that  the  subject  ought  not 
to  be  proposed  for  decision  unless  there  was  a  demand 
from  the  Bishops  for  action  on  it.  Nevertheless,  a  ma- 
jority of  the  American  prelates  saw  with  dismay  a  rapidly 
growing  sentiment  in  favor  of  bringing  up  the  question; 
and  at  length  450  of  the  Council's  members,  a  consider- 
able majority,  signed  a  petition  for  its  consideration  ad- 
dressed to  the  Commission  on  Postulates  or  Propositions, 
which  could  introduce  new  subjects  into  the  schemata. 

About  100,  including  many  of  the  Americans,  signed 
a  counter-petition,  but  it  became  clearly  evident  that  it 
was  more  difficult  to  marshal  influence  on  that  side  of 
the  question.  The  Americans  had  a  consultation  at  their 
college  in  Rome  and  a  large  majority  of  them  declared 
that  it  would  be  inexpedient  to  propose  the  definition  of 
the  doctrine.  Bishop  Gibbons,  on  account  of  his  youth, 
did  not  feel  justified  in  expressing  any  opinion  in  the 
formal  discussions. 

The  view  of  the  Americans  was  that  as  the  whole 
episcopate,  the  priesthood  and  the  faithful  with  few  ex- 
ceptions had  received  with  veneration  and  docility  the 
doctrinal  decisions  of  the  Pontiffs,  no  necessity  for  such  a 
definition  existed.  A  learned  theologian  who  expressed 
their  opinion  wrote: 

"Let  that  suffice  which  has  already  been  declared  and 
has  been  believed  by  all,  that  the  Church,  whether  con- 
gregated in  Council  or  dispersed  throughout  the  world, 
is  always  infallible,  and  the  Supreme  Pontiff,  according 
to  the  words  of  the  Council  of  Florence,  is  the  teacher  of 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL    123 

the  whole  Church  and  of  all  Christians.  But  as  to  the 
mysterious  gift  of  infallibility  which,  by  God,  is  be- 
stowed upon  the  episcopate  united  to  the  Pope,  and  at 
the  same  time  is  bestowed  in  a  special  manner  on  the 
Supreme  Pontiff,  it  may  be  left  as  it  is.  The  Church, 
as  all  Catholics  believe,  whether  in  an  Ecumenical  Coun- 
cil or  by  the  Pope  alone  without  a  Council,  defines  and 
explains  the  truth  of  revelation.  It  is  not  expedient  or 
opportune  to  make  further  declarations  unless  a  proved 
necessity  demands  it,  which  necessity  at  present  does  not 
appear  to  exist." 

The  American  view  could  rest  only  on  the  question  of 
opportuneness,  for  one  of  the  effective  arguments  used 
by  the  advocates  of  the  doctrine  of  infallibility  was  the 
declaration  on  the  subject  by  the  Second  Plenary  Council 
of  Baltimore,  of  which  Gibbons  had  been  the  assistant 
chancellor.  That  declaration  was  cited  early  in  the  dis- 
cussions, being  embraced  in  an  appendix  to  the  petition 
of  Bishops  addressed  to  the  commission  on  Postulates  or 
Propositions.    It  was: 

"The  living  and  infallible  authority  flourishes  in  that 
Church  alone  which  was  built  by  Christ  upon  Peter,  who 
is  the  head,  leader  and  pastor  of  the  whole  Church,  whose 
faith  Christ  promised  should  never  fail ;  which  ever  had 
legitimate  Pontiffs,  dating  their  origin  in  unbroken  line 
from  Peter  himself,  being  seated  in  his  chair  and  being 
the  inheritors  and  defenders  of  the  like  doctrine,  dignity, 
of^ce  and  power.  And  because  where  Peter  is,  there  also 
is  the  Church,  and  because  Peter  speaks  in  the  person 
of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  ever  lives  in  his  successors,  passes 
judgment  and  makes  known  the  truths  of  faith  to  those 
who  seek  them,  therefore  are  the  Divine  declarations  to 
be  received  in  the  maimer  in  which  they  have  been  and 


124.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

are  held  by  this  Roman  See  of  Blessed  Peter,  that  mother 
and  teacher  of  all  churches,  which  has  ever  preserved 
whole  the  teachings  delivered  by  Christ,  and  which  has 
taught  the  faithful,  showing  to  all  men  the  paths  of  sal- 
vation and  the  doctrine  of  everlasting  truth. 


"  5 


Bishop  Gibbons,  despite  his  own  views  on  the  ques- 
tion of  opportuneness,  was  profoundly  impressed,  as  he 
wrote,  by  the  "fearless  and  serene  conduct  of  the  great 
majority,  who,  spurning  a  temporizing  policy  and  the 
dictates  of  human  prudence,  were  deterred  neither  by 
specious  arguments  nor  imperial  threats  nor  by  the  fear 
of  schism  from  promulgating  what  they  conceived  to  be 
a  truth  contained  in  the  deposit  of  divine  revelation." 

Those  who  demanded  the  definition  declared  that 
nothing  which  was  true  could  be  said  to  be  inopportune. 
Had  not  God  revealed  it*?  they  asked,  and  could  it  be 
permitted  to  think  that  what  He  had  thought  it  oppor- 
tune to  reveal  it  was  not  opportune  to  declare  *?  In  the 
minds  of  objectors,  "opportune"  must  refer  to  something 
of  a  political  or  diplomatic  character,  some  calculation  of 
expediency  relating  to  peoples  or  governments.  This 
caution  would  be  proper  for  legislative  bodies  or  cabin- 
ets debating  public  questions  of  a  secular  nature;  but  the 
Church  deals  with  the  truths  of  revelation,  and  it  is  at 
all  times  opportune  for  her  to  declare  what  God  has 
willed  that  man  should  know.  It  had  been  said  that 
many  revealed  truths  were  not  defined.  This  was  true 
and  would  be  a  strong  argument  if  the  truth  had  never 
been  denied.  The  infallibility  of  the  Roman  Pontiff  hav- 
ing been  denied,  its  definition  became  necessary.     Some 

'Acta  et  Decreta,  Cone.  Plen.  II,  Bajtimore. 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL    125 

persons,  in  order  to  throw  doubt  upon  the  doctrine  or  to 
prove  it  false,  represented  the  denial  of  it  to  be  ancient 
and  widespread.  This  increased  the  need  of  declaring 
it  by  an  authoritative  decree.  Protestants  would  say: 
"If  you  are  not  doubtful,  why  do  you  hesitate  to  declare 
it?"  Antagonists  hoped  to  find  objection  among  Catho- 
lics in  order  to  gain  leverage  for  an  opinion  that  the 
Church  was  not  really  united  and  therefore  not  the  au- 
thoritative custodian  of  the  deposit  of  Divine  truth. 

All  Catholics,  it  was  set  forth  by  the  supporters  of  the 
definition,  believed  that  the  Church,  by  the  assistance  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  was  infallible.  If  it  were  left  open  to 
doubt  whether  the  teaching  of  the  head  of  the  Church 
were  true,  those  who  believed  that  he  might  err  could 
always  contradict  it.  The  Church  during  eighteen  cen- 
turies had  done  many  acts  of  supreme  importance  by  its 
head  alone.  Were  these  acts  fallible  or  infallible'?  The 
question  had  been  formally  raised  and,  for  the  sake  of 
Divine  truth,  it  was  contended,  must  be  as  formally 
solved. 

Bishop  Gibbons  set  down  succinctly  the  alignments  of 

view  on  this  subject  in  a  diary  of  the  Council  which  he 

kept.    He  wrote: 

"The  difference  of  opinion  that  existed  among  the 
Bishops  on  the  subject  of  infallibility  is  known  through- 
out the  four  quarters  of  the  globe.  What  was  the  cause 
of  it?  If  anyone  imagines  that  all  who  joined  in  oppos- 
ing a  definition  from  the  outset  were  actuated  by  the 
same  motives  he  would  certainly  be  wide  of  the  mark. 
While  the  main  point  of  the  controversy  was  held  by  the 
ultramontanes  without  exception  and  there  was  but  the 
one  question  as  to  the  formula  to  be  used,  the  opposition, 


126  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

as  they  were  generally  called,  taken  altogether,  had  no 
fixed  principle  of  accord,  save  an  agreement  to  disagree 
with  the  defining  of  the  doctrine  as  of  faith.  To  analyze 
the  constituent  parts  of  this  body,  we  shall  class  them 
according  to  ideas. 

"The  first  class  comprised  those  who,  believing  the 
doctrme  themselves,  or  at  least  favoring  it  speculatively, 
did  not  think  it  capable  of  definition,  not  deeming  the 
tradition  of  the  Church  clear  enough  on  this  point. 

"The  second  class,  the  most  numerous,  regarded  the 
definition  as  possible,  but  practically  fraught  with  peril 
to  the  Church,  as  impeding  conversions,  as  exasperating 
to  governments.  For  the  sake  of  peace  and  for  the  good 
of  souls,  they  would  not  see  it  proclaimed  as  of  faith. 

"All  of  these  dissident  prelates,  we  are  bound  to  say, 
acted  with  conscientious  conviction  of  the  justice  of  the 
cause  they  defended.  They  were  bound  in  conscience  to 
declare  their  opinions  and  to  make  them  prevail  by  all 
lawful  influences."  ^ 

The  young  American  prelate  was  also  greatly  im- 
pressed by  the  freedom  of  discussion  which  prevailed  and 
which  produced  in  his  mind  a  deep  realization  of  the 
democracy  of  the  Church.    He  wrote  in  his  diary : 

"If  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  this  most  important  and 
vital  question  anyone  went  beyond  the  limits  of  moder- 
ation or  used  means  not  dictated  by  prudence  or  charity, 
it  is  nothing  more  than  might  have  been  expected  in  so 
large  a  number  of  persons  of  such  varied  character  and 
education.  Instead  of  being  shocked  at  the  little  occur- 
rences of  this  nature,  we  should  rather  be  struck  with 
admiration  for  the   self-restraint   and   affability  which 

*  Bishop  Gibbons  in  conjunction  with  Bishop  Lynch  of  Charleston, 
S.  C,  prepared  a  series  of  articles  based  upon  this  diar>'  which  were 
published  in  the  Catholic  World  at  the  time  of  the  Council's  sessions  and 
republished  in  his  Retrospect  of  Fifty  Years, 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL    127 

were  shown,  despite  the  intensity  of  feeling  and  strength 
of  conviction.  In  a  word,  that  the  Council  of  the  Vat- 
ican did  not  break  up  many  months  ago  in  disorder  and 
irreconcilable  enmity  "^  is  because  it  was  God's  work  and 
not  man's.  It  is  because  charity  ruled  in  it  in  spite  of 
defects." 

Expressing  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  later  ^  his 
views  on  the  same  aspect  of  the  Council's  work,  Gibbons 
wrote: 

"The  most  ample  liberty  of  discussion  prevailed  in  the 
Council.  This  freedom  the  Holy  Father  pledged  at  the 
opening  synod  and  the  pledge  was  religiously  kept.  I  can 
safely  say  that  neither  in  the  British  House  of  Commons 
nor  in  the  French  Chambers  nor  in  the  German  Reichstag 
nor  in  the  American  Congress  would  wider  liberty  of 
debate  be  tolerated  than  was  granted  in  the  Vatican 
Council. 

"The  presiding  Cardinal  exhibited  a  courtesy  of  man- 
ner and  forbearance  even  in  the  heat  of  debate  that  were 
worthy  of  all  praise.  I  don't  think  that  he  called  a 
speaker  to  order  more  than  a  dozen  times  during  the 
eighty-nine  sessions,  and  then  only  in  deference  to  the 
dissenting  murmurs  or  demands  of  some  Bishops.  A 
prelate  representing  the  smallest  diocese  had  the  same 
rights  that  were  accorded  to  the  highest  dignitary  in  the 
Chamber.  ... 

"I  well  remember  how  during  and  after  the  Council  a 
good  many  writers  in  the  public  press  affected  to  be 
shocked  and  filled  with  virtuous  indignation  that  there 
should  be  an  outburst  of  feeling  or  even  any  display  of 
parliamentary  contention  in  a  council  of  Catholic 
Bishops.  .  .  .  Had  the  deliberations  been  carried  on  in  a 

'  This  passage  was  written  a  short  time  before  the  close  of  the  Council. 
•Cardinal  Gibbons  in  the  North  American  Review  for  ApriU  1894. 


128  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

humdrum  style  without  criticism  or  opposition  on  the  part 
of  the  minority,  the  outcry  against  the  Council  would 
have  been  all  the  louder.  Then  it  would  have  been 
charged  with  a  fair  show  of  reason  that  there  was  no 
spirit  or  manhood  among  the  fathers,  that  they  were  so 
many  figure-heads  ready  to  bow  at  the  nod  of  the  Pope. 

"The  Bishops  were  men  with  human  feelings.  They 
were  freemen  fettered  by  no  compact,  bound  by  no  cau- 
cus, filled  with  a  profound  sense  of  responsibility  to  God 
and  their  consciences.  They  were  discussing  questions  not 
of  a  political  or  transitory  nature,  but  questions  of  faith 
and  morals.  .  .  . 

"Every  great 'Council  of  the  Catholic  Church  has  been 
marked  by  an  intense  earnestness  of  debate.  There  was 
not  only  discussion  but  'much  disputing'  in  the  Apostolic 
Council  of  Jerusalem.  .  .  . 

"I  have  listened  in  the  Council  chamber  to  far  more 
subtle,  more  plausible  and  more  searching  objections 
against  this  prerogative  of  the  Pope  [the  infallible  teach- 
ing office]  than  I  have  ever  read  or  heard  from  the  pen  or 
tongue  of  the  most  learned  and  formidable  Protestant 
assailant.  But  all  the  objections  were  triumphantly 
answered.  .  .  .  Since  the  last  vote  was  taken  in  the 
solemn  session  of  July  18,  1870,  all  the  Bishops  of 
Christendom,  without  a  murmur  of  dissent,  have  accepted 
the  decision  as  final  and  irrevocable." 

One  of  the  American  prelates,  Archbishop  Kenrick,  of 
St.  Louis,  was  "violently  opposed  to  the  definition,  not 
only  because  of  what  he  considered  its  inopportuneness, 
but  because  he  did  not  see  that  it  was  part  of  the  deposit 
of  faith";  but  as  soon  as  it  was  promulgated,  he  fully 
accepted  it.  Many  years  later  some  one  spoke  in  criti- 
cism of  his  attitude  in  the  Council  to  Leo  XIII,  who  had 
then  become  Pope,  to  which  Leo  replied  with  spirit: 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL   129 

'The  Metropolitan  of  St.  Louis  was  a  noble  man  and 
a  true  Christian  Bishop.  When  he  sat  in  Council  as  a 
judge  of  the  faith  he  did  according  to  his  conscience  and 
the  moment  the  decision  was  taken,  although  it  was 
against  him,  he  submitted  with  the  filial  piety  of  a 
Catholic  Christian."  ^ 

None  claimed  personal  infallibility  for  the  Pontiff.  In 
order  to  exclude  the  possibility  of  this  interpretation,  the 
title  of  the  Vatican  Council's  decree  was  changed  from 
De  Romani  Fontificis  InfalUbilitate  to  De  Romani 
Pontificis  Infallibili  Magisterio.  It  was  held  to  be  a 
Divine  assistance  inseparable  from  the  office  and  not  a 
quality  inherent  in  the  person  of  the  Pope. 

The  final  form  in  which  the  definition  was  adopted 
was: 

"Therefore,  faithfully  adhering  to  the  tradition  re- 
ceived from  the  beginning  of  Christian  faith,  for  the 
glory  of  God  our  Savior,  the  exaltation  of  the  Catholic 
religion  and  the  salvation  of  the  Christian  people,  the 
Sacred  Council  approving,  we  teach  and  define  that  it  is  a 
dogma  Divinely  revealed:  That  the  Roman  Pontiff, 
when  he  speaks  ex  cathedra — that  is,  when  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  ofBce  of  pastor  and  teacher  of  all  Chris- 
tians, by  virtue  of  his  supreme  Apostolic  authority,  he 
defines  a  doctrine  regarding  faith  or  morals  to  be  held 
by  the  Universal  Church — is,  by  the  Divine  assistance 
promised  to  him  in  Blessed  Peter,  possessed  of  that  infal- 
libility with  which  the  Divine  Redeemer  willed  that  the 
Church  should  be  endowed  for  defining  doctrine  regard- 
ing faith  and  morals;  and  that,  therefore,  such  definitions 
of  the  Roman  Pontiff  are  irreformable  of  themselves  and 
not  from  the  consent  of  the  Church." 

'Retrospect  of  Fifty  Years,  Vol.  I,  pp.  33-13. 


130  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  chapter  on  Papal  infallibility  came  to  a  vote  in 
the  Council  in  July.  On  the  first  vote  45 1  of  the  fathers 
answered  placet^  or  aye,  88  non  placet^  or  no,  and  62 
placet  juxta  modum^  or  aye  with  modifications.  Nearly 
two  hundred  amendments,  some  of  which  were  adopted, 
were  offered.  When  the  time  came  for  the  final  action 
in  public  session,  533  voted  placet,  and  only  2  non  placet j' 
fifty-five  absented  themselves  in  order  to  avoid  being 
recorded  on  the  negative  side  of  a  question  whose  decision 
they  considered  inopportune;  eleven  others  were  absent 
from  unknown  causes,  and  were  supposed  to  have  left 
Rome,  as  permission  had  been  given  several  days  before 
to  begin  the  journey  homeward. 

The  two  who  voted  7ion  placet  were  Bishop  Fitzgerald, 
of  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  and  the  bishop  of  the  Italian 
Diocese  of  Caiazzo.  They  at  once  made  their  submission 
and  subscribed  to  the  decree.  Bishop  Gibbons  voted 
placet  on  the  question  when  it  came  before  the  Council. 

Nothing  need  be  said  here  of  the  monumental  work 
of  the  Council  in  dealing  with  the  general  doctrinal,  dis- 
ciplinary and  social  problems  that  had  arisen  since  Trent. 
On  no  question  except  that  of  infallibility  was  there  a 
distinct  line  of  difference  between  a  majority  of  the 
Americans  and  the  other  fathers  who  sat  with  them.  It 
was  the  one  declaration  of  the  gathering  which  pjo- 
foundly  stirred  the  external  world. 

The  protection  without  interference  which  the  Catholic 
Church  and  all  religious  denominations  receive  in 
America  was  now  in  evidence  with  a  new  light  thrown 
upon  it.  Here  there  were  no  political  bonds  between 
Church  and  State  which  might  be  affected  by  the  declara- 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL    181 

tion  in  Rome.  No  office  holder  or  politician  in  America 
had  any  vestige  of  authority  to  meddle  in  doctrinal  def- 
initions which  in  no  way  concerned  the  civil  government. 
There  was  no  concordat  to  be  debated  in  Congress. 

Perhaps  it  is  true  that  in  America  the  spread  of  the 
Catholic  faith  was  impeded  for  a  time,  but  its  marvelous 
development  in  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury and  since  is  complete  evidence  that  the  declaration 
of  Papal  infallibility  was  not  a  permanent  obstacle  to  the 
increase  of  spiritual  results  west  of  the  Atlantic.  Ag- 
gressive anti-Catholicism  flared  up  once  or  twice  but  the 
fears  of  some  American  Bishops  that  the  appalling  pro- 
scriptions of  the  "Know  Nothing"  times  might  be  re- 
vived proved  to  be  groundless.  Every  outburst  of  intol- 
erance in  the  United  States  found  its  strongest  corrective 
in  enlightened  public  opinion.  The  liberality  of  the 
young  Vicar  of  North  Carolina  who  sat  in  the  Vatican 
Council  became  ultimately  the  most  powerful  factor  in 
this  happy  state  of  affairs. 

Of  the  members  of  that  memorable  gathering  in  the 
Vatican  in  1870  it  is  safe  to  say  that  none  was  more  im- 
pressed with  it  than  its  youngest  Bishop,  ordained  but 
nine  years  before,  to  whom  life  was  still  fresh  when  he 
was  projected  into  the  midst  of  its  wisdom  and  grandeur 
and  solemnity.  He  sat  in  an  assembly  whose  delibera- 
tions represented  the  accumulated  experience  and  weight 
of  an  institution  whose  roots  were  planted  in  the  be- 
ginnings of  Christianity  and  whose  development  had  em- 
ployed a  large  proportion  of  the  master  minds  of  the 
world  from  Peter  to  Constantine  and  down  through  the 
ages.    The  contrast  was  not  lost  upon  him  of  this  ancienr 


132  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

instrument  for  the  salvation  of  the  world  and  the  new- 
ness of  his  own  country,  behind  which  there  were  then 
not  a  hundred  years  of  independence. 

Gibbons  sat  with  two  men  with  whom  he  was  to  work 
hand  in  hand  in  the  great  affairs  of  the  Church  and  the 
world  during  a  long  period  of  the  most  decisive  ecclesi- 
astical and  political  evolution  in  modern  times.  While 
he  could  not  realize  what  either  of  them  would  mean  to 
his  own  life,  their  personalities  impressed  him.  Of  the 
future  Leo  XIII,  then  Cardinal  Fecci,  he  wrote: 

"Although  Cardinal  Pecci  did  not  take  part  in  the  pub- 
lic debates  of  the  synod,  he  was  one  of  its  most  influential 
members  and  the  weight  of  his  learning  and  administra- 
tive experience  was  felt  in  the  committee  to  which  he 
was  appointed." 

Later  Gibbons  expressed  the  opinion  that  there  was  a 
design  of  Providence  in  the  fact  that  he  who  was  to  be 
"elected  the  head  and  judge  of  his  brethren  in  1878 
should  not  have  been  involved  in  their  disputations  in 
1870,  but  that  he  should  enter  his  high  office  joyfully 
hailed  as  the  harbinger  of  peace  and  concord  by  prelates 
of  every  shade  of  theological  opinion." 

This  was  his  picture  of  Manning: 

"Dr.  Manning's  reputation  as  an  English  speaker  is 
established  wherever  the  English  language  prevails.  His 
Latin  oration  in  the  Council  .  .  .  exhibited  the  same 
energy  of  thought  and  the  same  discriminating  choice  of 
words  which  are  striking  features  of  his  public  dis- 
courses. Dr.  Manning  has  a  commanding  figure.  His 
flesh  and  his  face  are  the  personification  of  asceticism. 
His  sunken  eyes  pierce  you  as  well  as  his  words.  He  has 
a  high,    well   developed   forehead,   which   appears  still 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL    133 

more  prominent  on  account  of  his  partial  baldness.  His 
favorite,  almost  his  only  gesture,  is  the  darting  of  his 
forefinger  in  a  sloping  direction  from  his  body,  which 
might  seem  awkward  in  others  but  in  him  is  quite  natural 
and  gives  a  peculiar  force  to  his  expression.  His  coun- 
tenance, even  in  the  heat  of  argument,  remains  almost 
as  impassive  as  a  statue. 

"He  knows  admirably  well  how  to  employ  to  the  best 
advantage  his  voice  as  well  as  his  words.  When  he 
wishes  to  gain  a  strong  point  he  rallies  his  choicest  bat- 
talion of  words,  to  each  of  which  he  assigns  a  most  ef- 
fective position;  while  his  voice,  swelling  with  the  occa- 
sion, imparts  to  them  an  energy  and  a  power  difficult 
to  resist."  ^^ 

Gibbons  also  wrote  that  Maiming's  emaciated  form 
and  ceaseless  activity  suggested  a  playful  remark  made 
to  him  by  Archbishop  Spalding:  "I  know  not  how  your 
Grace  can  work  so  much,  for  you  neither  eat,  nor  drink, 
nor  sleep." 

Of  the  American  prelates  Gibbons  was  naturally  most 
interested  in  Spalding,  who  was  busily  engaged  as  a 
member  of  the  two  most  important  committees  of  the 
Council,  but  who  spoke  only  once  in  the  course  of  the 
sessions. 

Of  the  head  of  the  archdiocese  of  St.  Louis  he  wrote : 

"Archbishop  Kenrick  spoke  Latin  with  admirable  ease 
and  elegance.  I  observed  him  day  after  day  reclining  in 
his  seat  with  half  closed  eyes  listening  attentively  to  the 
debates  without  taking  any  notes,  and  yet  so  tenacious 
was  his  memory  that  when  his  turn  came  to  ascend  the 
rostrum  he  reviewed  the  speeches  of  his  colleagues  with 

^'  Bishop  Gibbons'  Diary  of  the  Vatican  CoundL 


134  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

remarkable   fidelity  and  precision  without   the   aid   of 
manuscript  or  memoranda." 

Gibbons  pronounced  Archbishop  McCloskey,  of  New- 
York,  who  was  to  become  five  years  later  the  first  Ameri- 
can Cardinal,  a  "silent  Solon."  He  retained  throughout 
his  life  colorful  memories  of  the  entire  gathering  and  of 
the  striking  personalities  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
The  democracy  of  the  Church  he  saw  strikingly  exempli- 
fied in  Cardinal  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  Primate  of  Bo- 
hemia, and  Cardinal  Simor,  Primate  of  Hungary,  the 
two  most  influential  churchmen  of  what  was  then  the 
Austrian  Empire.  Schwarzenberg,  a  handsome  man  of 
commanding  presence,  was  a  prince  of  the  realm  as  well 
as  of  the  Church.  Simor  sprang  from  the  people  and 
was  glad  to  avow  it.  He  told  Bishop  Gibbons  that  he 
employed  four  different  languages  in  the  government  of 
his  diocese — Latin,  German,  Hungarian  and  Sla- 
vonian. 

Next  to  the  young  American  prelate  sat  a  Vicar  Apos- 
tolic from  China,  who  used  six  dialects  in  his  vicariate. 
One  Bishop  of  a  Chinese  diocese  had  traveled  twenty- 
three  thousand  miles  to  attend  the  Council.  Several 
blind  Bishops  had  to  be  guided  by  servants  as  they  took 
their  places  in  the  assembly.  Some  of  the  feeblest  were 
so  exhausted  by  their  travels  that  they  died  in  Rome  or 
on  the  way,  martyrs  to  their  obedience  to  duty. 

Archbishop  Darboy,  of  Paris,  who  shared  the  confi- 
dence and  expressed  the  views  of  Napoleon  III,  made  a 
deep  impression  upon  the  other  prelates.  He  had  seen 
the  assassination  of  two  of  his  predecessors,  Archbishops 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL    135 

Affre  and  Sibour ;  and  in  less  than  a  year  after  the  Coun- 
cil adjourned  was  himself  shot  to  death  in  the  prison  of 
La  Roquette  amid  the  ravings  of  the  Commune/^ 

The  Council,  as  the  Bishop  was  careful  to  set  forth  in 
his  diary,  sought  only  to  preserve  the  faith  of  the 
Church  as  originally  delivered  by  the  Apostles.  He 
wrote : 

"The  faith  of  the  Church  is  ever  one.  .  .  .  The  er- 
rors or  heresies  prevailing  at  any  time;  the  uncertainty 
in  some  minds  or  other  needs  of  a  period  may  render  it 
proper  or  necessary  to  give  a  fuller,  clearer  and  more 
definite  expression  of  that  faith  on  points  controverted 
or  misunderstood.  The  question  always  has  really  been 
the  faith  held  in  the  past  from  the  beginning  by  the 
Church  on  these  points.  ...  It  is  thus  that  the  Vatican 
Council  takes  up  matters  of  faith,  not  to  add  to  the  faith, 
but  to  declare  it  and  to  establish  it  when  it  has  been 
impugned  or  doubted  or  misunderstood." 

Father  Hecker,  who  expressed  the  general  view  of 
American  Catholics,  considered  that  the  Vatican  Council 
opened  a  new  outlook,  especially  for  America,  the  tend- 
ency of  whose  free  institutions,  he  held,  was  to  make 
men  Catholics.  The  constitution  of  the  Church  having 
been  fixed  in  permanent  form  and  the  capstone  applied 
by  the  definition  of  Papal  infallibility,  he  declared  that 
in  the  wide  radius  left  for  liberty  of  thought  and  action 
the  fullest  development  of  the  individual  soul  should 
be  sought. ^^ 

"  Personal  Reminiscences  of  the  Vatican  Council,  Cardinal  Gibbons  in 
the  North  American  Re-view,  April,  i^g^^.  ,      „,       ,         i   .,       /» 

"The  Very  Rev.  Isaac  Thomas  Hecker,  The  Church  and  the  Age, 
pp.  ia-13. 


136  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Now  at  last  Bishop  Gibbons  had  a  clear  perspective 
which  could  not  fade  from  his  mind  of  what  the  Catholic 
Church  means  to  the  world.  In  the  Second  Plenary 
Council  of  Baltimore  he  had  seen  what  it  means  to  the 
United  States.  These  opportunities  come  to  few  men, 
and  to  still  fewer  when  they  are  as  young  as  he  was. 
Five  days  after  the  Vatican  Council  adjourned  he  passed 
his  thirty-sixth  birthday. 

As  the  Council  was  one  of  the  principal  formative  ex- 
periences of  his  life,  a  survey  of  the  impressions  which 
it  produced  upon  him,  of  the  part  which  the  American 
prelates  took  in  it  and  of  its  general  outlines  is  necessary 
to  a  comprehension  of  many  conceptions  and  acts  of  his 
subsequent  career.  He  acquired,  in  the  first  place,  inef- 
faceable confirmation  of  what  he  had  learned  in  the 
theological  seminary,  and  in  his  then  comparatively  brief 
work  as  an  ecclesiastic,  of  the  unity  of  faith  held  by  the 
Church  throughout  the  world.  He  saw  this  put  to  the 
test  in  the  differences  of  human  opinion  voiced  with  such 
high  ability  and  so  much  energy  in  the  debates  on  the 
doctrine  of  Papal  infallibility.  Then  he  saw  the  calming 
of  the  troubled  waves  as  if  by  a  miracle  in  the  unanimous 
adherence  to  the  doctrine  when  it  was  once  promulgated 
with  authority. 

Gibbons  also  derived  from  the  Council  a  clear  com- 
prehension, which  never  left  him,  of  what  his  individual 
efforts  might  mean  to  the  Church  and  to  the  world. 
While  he  maintained  the  modest  attitude  which  was 
proper  for  a  junior  Bishop,  he  saw  that  decisions  were 
reached  through  the  instrumentality  of  leadership. 
Forming  his  views  as  to  the  problems  that  would  come 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL    137 

before  the  Church  in  the  future,  he  need  be  second  to 
none  of  equal  rank  in  influencing  decisions. 

The  young  Vicar  Apostolic  saw  still  another  condition 
which  made  a  lasting  impression  upon  him.  Ties  be- 
tween Church  and  State,  which  were  then,  to  the  Euro- 
pean mind,  normal,  led  sometimes  to  conditions  that 
negatived  what  those  ties  were  supposed  to  mean.  Per- 
haps more  was  to  be  feared  from  Catholic  than  from  non- 
Catholic  sovereigns.  Regalism — the  interference  of 
Catholic  monarchs  in  the  purely  internal  affairs  of  the 
Church — had  grown  to  be  an  almost  insupportable 
burden.  Political  pressure  hampered  the  Pontificate  in 
the  selection  of  Bishops,  and  priests  were  interfered  with 
almost  at  the  steps  of  the  altar.  Private  ambition  and 
intrigue  beset  every  step  in  the  adjustment  of  the  direct 
relations  between  Church  and  State  in  Europe.  Ecclesi- 
astical seminaries,  basking  in  the  favor  of  powerful  rulers, 
taught  what  Rome  called  heresy. 

Threats  which  kings  and  statesmen  made  in  attempt- 
ing to  sway  the  action  of  the  Vatican  Council  were  known 
in  all  the  chancellories  of  the  world.  The  Austrian, 
French  and  Spanish  Cardinals  spoke  with  the  weight  of  a 
power,  which  had  been  allowed  them  by  custom  rather 
than  law,  of  vetoing  the  election  of  Popes.^^  The  dif- 
ference between  this  European  background,  the  result  of 
long  historical  processes,  and  the  full  freedom  of  the 
American  Bishops  in  the  Council  was  not  lost  upon  Gib- 
bons. 

In  the  course  of  his  return  home  in  company  with 

^The  privilege  of  exercising  this  power  was  forever  barred  by  the 
Church  after  the  veto  of  Austria  prevented  the  election  of  Cardinal 
RampoUa  as  the  successor  of  Leo  XIII  in   1903. 


138  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Archbishop  Spalding,  they  paid  a  visit  to  the  Bishop  of 
Annecy  in  Savoy.  The  splendor  of  the  Bishop's  palace 
impressed  him.  His  view  of  the  French  prelate's  im- 
portance was  further  emphasized  by  observing  a  sentinel 
at  the  door  furnished  by  the  Government  as  a  guard  of 
honor;  but  the  Bishop  soon  disabused  him  of  his  favorable 
impressions.  When  Gibbons  commented  on  the  honor 
paid  him  the  Bishop  replied : 

"Monsignor,  all  is  not  gold  that  glitters.  I  am  not  able 
to  build  even  a  sacristy  without  the  permission  of  the 
Government." 

In  the  Council  Gibbons  had  an  opportunity  to  gauge 
the  Church's  immeasurable  influence  in  the  social  and 
material  uplifting  of  humankind.  When  she  speaks 
upon  social  justice,  the  power  of  her  voice  radiates  far 
beyond  even  the  wide-sweeping  circle  of  her  own  faith. 
She  declares  her  judgment  upon  questions  that  pro- 
foundly affect  labor  and  capital  in  order  that  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  fruits  of  the  earth  may  not  be  carried  out 
in  defiance  of  Divine  law.  She  sets  herself  against  move- 
ments, whether  in  political  guise  or  not,  which  contra- 
dict the  principles  of  Christianity.  She  speaks  on  morals 
and  manners,  education,  the  family,  amusements  and  a 
multitude  of  other  things,  the  total  of  which  affects  the 
lives  of  human  beings  profoundly. 

The  Vatican  Council  appealed  to  Gibbons'  imagina- 
tion, but  his  was  not  an  imagination  that  roved  in  fathom- 
less clouds  of  unreality.  It  was  of  the  perceptive  kind, 
which  visualized  and  brought  to  close  range  things  that 
seemed  obscure  and  distant  to  most  minds.  The  Council 
stirred  his  inmost  soul,  but  stirred  it  to  deeds  rather  than 


YOUNGEST  IN  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL    139 

to  speculation.  Filled  with  the  inspiration  of  the  Coun- 
cil, he  returned  to  his  task  in  North  Carolina  with  a 
flood  of  light  upon  the  larger  work  of  the  Church  which 
was  to  guide  his  footsteps  along  many  a  difficult  path 
that  would  open  before  him. 


CHAPTER  VII 
BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND 

The  road  for  Bishop  Gibbons'  rapid  journey  upward 
to  the  leadership  of  the  Church  in  America  soon  opened 
again.  The  bishopric  of  Richmond,  his  second  episcopal 
appointment  in  four  years,  was  bestowed  up  him  at  the 
age  of  thirty-seven,  when  most  clerics  of  parts  are  scarcely 
beginning  to  consider  promotion  from  the  ranks  as  a  dim 
prospect.  When  that  seat  was  vacated  in  1872  by  the 
death  of  the  Right  Rev.  John  McGill,  his  superiors 
turned  to  him  with  united  judgment;  and  his  selection  as 
administrator  of  the  diocese  was  followed  by  his  per- 
manent appointment  by  Rome.  None  hailed  his  eleva- 
tion with  more  delight  than  Archbishop  Spalding,  then 
sinking  fast  under  the  burden  of  years  and  infirmities, 
whose  urgent  recommendation  had  been  given  in  his 
favor.  Although  the  Archbishop  lived  to  see  his  counsel 
heeded  in  the  nomination  of  the  head  of  the  See,  his 
death  prevented  the  gratification  of  his  fatherly  wish  to 
install  Gibbons  in  the  new  diocese. 

The  selection  of  another  incumbent  for  the  vicariate  of 
North  Carolina  presented  some  difficulties,  and  it  was 
decided  that  Bishop  Gibbons  should  continue  as  admin- 
istrator there  at  the  same  time.  The  situation  of  Rich- 
mond was  favorable  to  the  supervision  of  both  jurisdic- 
tions, and  it  was  not  doubted  that  his  energy  and  seem- 

140 


GIBBONS  AS   BISHOP  OF   RICHMOND 


BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  141 

ingly  endless  resourcefulness  would  be  equal  to  the  double 
task. 

His  light  could  be  hidden  no  longer,  for  in  their  asso- 
ciation with  him  at  the  Vatican  Council  the  chiefs  of  the 
Church  had  not  failed  to  discern  the  gifts  of  leadership 
which  he  possessed,  even  though  these  were  partly  masked 
by  the  self-effacement  that  characterized  him  throughout 
the  sessions  in  Rome.  It  was  impossible  for  any  one,  pre- 
late, priest  or  la}Tnan,  who  might  come  in  contact  with 
him  then  or  at  any  future  time,  not  to  be  attracted  to  him. 
He  possessed,  in  a  rare  combination,  singular  sweetness 
of  personal  disposition  with  intellectual  equipment  for 
the  greatest  tasks  and  a  prodigious  capacity  for  work. 

Not  only  were  his  superiors  in  the  Hierarchy  glad  to 
acknowledge  the  commanding  traits  which  they  saw  in 
him,  but  his  brother  Bishops  were  ready  to  welcome  any 
promotion  that  might  come  to  him.  Wherever  he  was 
in  contact  with  priests,  the  mass  of  them  became  his 
devoted  followers.  They  trusted  in  his  almost  instinctive 
trait  of  justice,  which  was  linked  with  a  wide  charity  and 
a  degree  of  tact  perhaps  unequaled  by  any  executive  of 
his  time,  in  or  out  of  the  Church. 

Human  nature  seemed  almost  an  open  book  to  him,  as 
to  many  other  men  who  combine  in  themselves  the  ele- 
ments of  lofty  success.  He  could  form  an  instantaneous 
and  often  accurate  judgment  of  one  whom  he  met  for  the 
first  time,  and  was  able  to  modify  such  a  view  readily  as 
circumstances  might  require.  Although  his  character 
was  conciliatory,  it  was  of  the  kind  whose  strength  was 
bound  to  dominate  in  the  end.  Few  could  attain  with 
equal  ease  a  purpose  in  the  face  of  obstacles. 


142  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Virginia  was  a  field  only  less  difficult  for  a  Bishop  to 
cultivate  than  North  Carolina.  In  the  oldest  of  the 
American  colonies,  more  than  in  any  other  of  them, 
lingered  the  atmosphere  of  the  England  of  Elizabeth, 
with  its  prejudices  against  the  religion  which  her  father 
had  first  championed  and  then  attempted  to  stamp  out 
in  his  kingdom  with  all  the  resources  of  his  power.  Under 
a  sailcloth  spread  between  the  boughs  of  trees  on  James- 
town Island,  in  May,  1607,  the  Rev.  Robert  Hunt  had 
read  the  first  service  of  the  Church  of  England  on  Vir- 
ginian soil.^  That  church  remained  as  firmly  established 
in  the  colony  as  in  the  mother  country  until  the  revolu- 
tion, and  it  transplanted  to  the  banks  of  the  James  and 
the  Rappahannock  its  characteristic  institutions.  The 
local  vestries  were  entrusted  with  political  as  well  as 
ecclesiastical  functions,  such  as  the  care  of  orphans  and 
the  poor,  and  the  pay  of  the  colonial  clergy  was  taken 
from  public  taxation.  Anti-Catholic,  anti-Puritan  and 
anti-Quaker  feeling  was  strong  in  Virginia  and  there  was 
official  frowning  upon  open  worship  other  than  that  of 
the  establishment,  but  happily  without  active  persecu- 
tion. 

Marked  traces  of  these  conditions,  especially  in  the 
tidewater  counties  of  the  State,  survived  the  revolution 
and  were  not  obliterated  even  in  the  passing  of  the  first 
century  of  American  independence.  The  ecclesiastical 
and  social  predominance  of  the  Episcopal  church  con- 
tinued to  be  evident  in  the  outward  aspect  of  community 
life  there,  being  too  closely  threaded  in  the  institutions 
of  the  people  to  be  withdrawn  suddenly.     Presbyterians 

*Lyon  G.  Tyler,  Cradle  of  the  Republic,  p.  ii6. 


BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  143 

and  Lutherans,  however,  entered  the  Shenandoah  Valley 
in  large  numbers,  and  other  denominations,  especially 
Baptists  and  Methodists,  soon  outnumbered  the  Episco- 
palians in  the  mountainous  districts  of  the  State. 

In  North  Carolina  there  had  been  scarcely  any  immi- 
gration of  Catholics  to  furnish  a  foothold  for  the  Church. 
There  was  little  more  in  Virginia,  but  still  enough  to 
plant  a  nucleus  in  each  of  the  larger  cities,  such  as  Rich- 
mond, Petersburg  and  Norfolk.  Not  until  1791  was  the 
first  Mass  said  in  Richmond  and  for  a  score  of  years 
after  that  the  growth  of  the  Church  in  the  State  was  ex- 
tremely slow.  The  diocese  was  founded  in  1820,  but  the 
outlook  was  so  unpromising  that  it  was  abolished  and 
united  with  Baltimore  two  years  later.  In  1840  it  was 
reestablished  by  Bishop  Wheeler,  who  administered  it 
for  ten  years,  and  was  succeeded  by  Bishop  McGill,  who 
labored  in  it  for  twenty-two  years.  Bishop  Gibbons  was 
therefore  but  the  fourth  in  succession  counting  from 
Bishop  Kelley,  who  was  in  charge  during  the  brief  period 
1820-22. 

Maryland  and  Virginia,  so  closely  akin  in  many  things, 
are  totally  unlike  in  church  antecedents  and  influences. 
One  has  been  receptive  by  tradition  and  feeling  to  the 
Catholic  Church;  the  other  has  been  the  opposite.^  In 
parts  of  Virginia  a  Catholic  priest  is  unknown  even  at 
this  day  and  would  be  looked  upon  as  a  curiosity  if  he 
should  appear. 

The  post-bellum  poverty  which  had  hampered  Bishop 
Gibbons  in  North  Carolina  in  obtaining  material  support 
for  the  building  of  new  churches  and  schools  was  even 

'  Browne,  Maryland,  the  History  of  a  Palatinate,  pp.  27,  86. 


144.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

more  distressingly  evident  in  Virginia,  where,  in  the  four 
years'  struggle  for  the  possession  of  the  Confederate  cap- 
ital, great  contending  armies  had  ranged  throughout  the 
State.  Groups  of  blackened  chimneys  marked  the  sites 
where  flourishing  villages  had  stood,  fields  were  swept 
bare  and  the  economic  resources  which  escaped  the  seizure 
of  the  Federals  had  been  given  to  the  half-starved  Con- 
federates. 

Of  the  able-bodied  men  of  the  State,  a  large  proportion 
had  been  killed  or  maimed.  Agricultural  labor  had  been 
demoralized  by  the  sudden  freeing  of  the  slaves  and  on 
many  farms  there  was  no  man  to  sow  or  reap,  no  seed 
to  pi  ant.  ^  Attempts  at  economic  recovery  were  almost 
paralyzed  by  the  misgovernment  of  the  carpet-bag 
regime. 

Bishop  Gibbons,  who  had  begun  in  North  Carolina 
with  only  th<*'e  churches,  had  at  the  outset  in  his  new 
jurisdiction  fifteen  churches,  the  same  number  of  chapels 
or  stations,  sixteen  parochial  schools  and  seventeen 
priests.  Overflowing  with  initiative,  he  began  a  vigor- 
ous administration  of  which  the  results  were  soon  ap- 
parent. His  task  was,  as  before,  to  win  converts  to  the 
faith.  The  same  liberality  of  view  that  had  endeared 
him  to  the  people  of  North  Carolina  without  regard  to 
creed  appealed  with  equal  strength  to  the  predominantly 
Protestant  population  of  Virginia.  In  the  principal  cities 
and  towns  of  the  State  where  his  voice  was  soon  heard 
and  his  personality  felt,  his  sermons  were  largely  ad- 
dressed to  non-Catholics,  who  comprised  in  many  cases 
fully  half  or  more  than  half  of  his  audiences. 

'  Cooke,  History  of  Virginia,  pp.   506-7. 


BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  145 

The  Bishop's  tact  and  quick  perception  were  employed 
to  the  utmost  in  gauging  his  auditors.  If  they  seemed  to 
be  seeking  an  exposition  of  Catholic  doctrine  as  a  forti- 
fication of  their  own  faith,  few  could  give  it  as  well  as  he ; 
but,  did  they  come  to  listen  that  they  might  disapprove, 
he  won  their  attention  at  the  outset  by  the  presentation 
of  the  simple  truths  of  Christianity  and  then  proceeded 
to  a  discussion  of  his  theme  with  a  breadth  and  charity 
of  view  that  disarmed  criticism.  None  could  be  offended. 
Protestants  thanked  him  for  visiting  their  towns  and 
Catholics  looked  upon  him  as  a  shining  exemplar  of  their 
faith. 

His  journal  gives  a  faithful  record  of  his  labors  in 
Virginia  during  that  period.  The  following  extracts 
cover  his  induction  into  the  See,  the  passing  of  Spalding 
and  the  accession  of  Bayley  to  the  archiepiscopal  seat 
which  Gibbons  was  soon  to  occupy :  ^' 

"Jan.  14.  [1872].  Bishop  McGill,  of  Richmond, 
died. 

"16.     Was  buried  on  the  16th. 

"17.  On  reaching  home  from  the  funeral,  a  telegram 
was  before  me,  announcing  my  appointment  as  admin- 
istrator of  the  diocese  of  Richmond,  sede  vacante.  This 
appointment  was  made  by  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Spalding,  with 
the  advice  of  Drs.  Wood,  Lynch  and  Becker,  who  partici- 
pated in  the  funeral  obsequies. 

"Feb.  7.  Archbishop  Spalding  died.  A  great  light  ia 
extinguished  in  Israel.  I  attended  the  funeral,  having 
before  his  death  given  him  the  Holy  Viaticum  and  read 
for  him  the  profession  of  faith. 

"27.  Very  Rev.  Father  Coskery  died.  R.  I.  P.  He 
appointed  me  his  administrator. 

"Aug.  29.     This  morning  I  received  from  the  Holy 


146  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Father,  Pius  IX,  the  bulls  creating  me  Bishop  of  Rich- 
mond. The  bulls  were  dated  July  30.  I  retain  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  vicariate  of  North  Carolina  till  the  Holy 
Father  is  pleased,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Bishops  of 
this  province,  to  appoint  a  Bishop  for  North  Carolina. 
Dr.  Bayley,  of  Newark,  received  his  bulls  appointing  him 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore.    They  are  of  the  same  date. 

"Oct.  6.  Today  I  preached  my  last  sermon  in  Wil- 
mington before  moving  my  residence  to  Richmond,  where 
I  am  to  be  installed  on  the  20th.  Archbishop  Bayley 
will  be  installed  on  the  13th. 

"20.  I  was  installed  in  the  See  of  Richmond.  The 
Most  Rev.  Dr.  Bayley,  Archbishop  of  Baltimore, 
preached  the  sermon  and  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Becker  pontifi- 
cated. At  the  end  of  the  Mass  I  delivered  an  address. 
Some  34  priests  were  present,  including,  with  two  or 
three  exceptions,  all  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  of  Rich- 
mond. The  church  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity 
and  many  could  not  obtain  admittance  for  want  of  room." 

Soon  after  this  he  began  a  series  of  episcopal  visita- 
tions marked  by  vigorous  and  skilfully  directed  efforts 
either  to  extend  the  work  of  each  congregation  or  to  plant 
a  new  one.  Early  in  November  he  went  to  Lynchburg, 
where  he  preached  and  confirmed.  From  that  city  he 
proceeded  to  Lexington,  where  Robert  E.  Lee  had  died 
but  two  years  before  and  where  "Stonewall"  Jackson  had 
taught  in  the  Virginia  Military  Institute.  There  was  no 
Catholic  church  in  the  town  and  for  want  of  better 
quarters  the  Bishop  was  compelled  to  confirm  ten  per- 
sons in  the  fire  engine  house.  In  the  presence  of  a  bril- 
liant assembly  reminiscent  of  ante-bellum  social  life  in 
Virginia,  he  performed  the  ceremony  of  marriage  for 
John  B.  Purcell  and  Miss  Olympia  Williamson.     One 


BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  147 

of  the  guests  was  General  George  Washington  Custis  Lee, 
son  of  the  Confederate  chieftain. 

Continuing  his  habit  of  painstaking  care  in  his  work, 
he  set  down  in  his  journal  at  that  time  exact  financial 
details  of  the  diocese,  including  the  value  of  Church  prop- 
erty, insurance,  expenses  and  receipts.  The  annual  sta- 
tistics of  St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  the  figures  of  the  Altar 
Society's  annual  report  and  even  the  names  of  officers  of 
temperance  societies  organized  in  Richmond  under  his 
administration  were  recorded  in  his  own  handwriting — 
a  small,  regular  and  legible  script. 

Early  in  1873  he  made  a  trip  to  North  Carolina, 
preaching,  lecturing,  confirming  and  generally  stimulat- 
ing the  work  of  the  vicariate.  He  confirmed  a  class  of 
nine  at  Raleigh,  including  the  mayor  and  his  wife,  who 
were  converts. 

Returning  to  his  duties  in  Virginia,  he  visited  Alex- 
andria, Fairfax,  Gordonsville,  Warrenton,  Middleburg, 
Winchester  and  other  places  in  the  Northern  part  of  the 
State,  where  memories  of  Washington,  Madison,  Mon- 
roe, Marshall  and  other  early  statesmen  of  the  Republic 
abounded  and  where  history  had  imprinted  her  stamp 
anew  in  the  Civil  War.  Every  church  in  the  diocese  re- 
ceived his  attention  and  the  entries  in  his  journal  began 
to  record  a  flow  of  accessions.  Among  his  memoranda  of 
these  visitations  were  the  following: 

"April  19.  Visited  Mrs.  Lewis's  family  in  King 
George  County,  20  miles  south-east  from  Fredericksburg. 
Mrs.  Lewis's  husband  is  the  great-grand-nephew  of 
George  Washington.  Said  Mass,  preached  and  confirmed 
three  children  of  Mrs.  Lewis. 


148  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"May  11.  Yesterday  I  reached  Warrenton,  being 
the  guest  of  Mrs.  Payne.  This  morning  I  preached  at 
High  Mass  on  'The  Infallibility  of  the  Pope'  and  after 
Mass  confirmed  24  candidates,  including  one  convert, 
Lieutenant  Beattie,  who  served  under  Col.  Mosby  during 
the  war. 

"May  18.  At  early  Mass  this  morning  I  confirmed 
at  Alexandria  1 17  candidates,  of  whom  1 1  were  converts, 
including  Col.  Kilgour,  the  district  attorney.  ...  At- 
High  Mass  I  preached  on  The  Unity  and  Catholicity  of 
the  Church.'  " 

The  completion  of  an  exceptionally  large  parochial 
school  in  Richmond  is  thus  chronicled  in  his  journal  for 
September  28,  1873: 

"The  Cathedral  male  school  and  academy,  corner 
Ninth  and  Marshall  streets,  was  dedicated  this  (Sun- 
day) evening  in  the  presence  of  a  very  large  multitude, 
including  the  German  and  English  beneficial  societies. 

"The  ground  cost  $16,000. 

"The  building,  $18,000. 

"Furniture  etc.,  $3,000. 

"Total  cost,  $37,000. 

"187  boys  entered  a  few  days  after  the  opening.  It 
is  hoped  that  the  number  will  be  increased  to  200." 

Early  in  1874  he  had  an  attack  of  fever  while  on  a 
visitation  to  North  Carolina.     He  wrote  in  his  journal: 

"Jan.  17.  We  reached  Goldsboro.  Here  I  was  at- 
tacked with  fever  the  same  night. 

"18.  With  much  difficulty  the  next  morning  (Sun- 
day) I  said  Mass  and  confirmed  eight  candidates,  includ- 
ing two  converts,  in  the  chapel.  I  retired  immediately 
to  bed,  where  I  remained  till  Monday,  the  19th,  when  I 
proceeded  on  to  Wilmington  with  Father  Gross,  who 


BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  149 

met  me  at  Goldsboro.  Father  Townshend  filled  my  en- 
gagement at  Goldsboro.  My  engagement  at  Sampson 
is  postponed. 

**19.  I  arrived  in  Wilmington  and  am  weak,  but 
convalescing." 

Abundant  results  were  developing  from  his  aggressive 
administration.     Further  entries  in  his  journal  were: 

"March  30.  This  morning  William  S.  Caldwell 
Esq.,*  made  me  a  present  of  his  beautiful  property  sit- 
uated on  the  Northeast  corner  of  Marshall  and  Ninth 
streets  (Richmond).  On  the  lot  a  beautiful  three-story 
house  is  erected.  He  also  makes  me  a  present  of  the 
rich  furniture  which  adorns  the  house.  He  sent  me  the 
deed  from  New  York.  My  intention  is  to  use  the  build- 
ing for  a  male  orphan  asylum.  The  property  is  worth 
about  $20,000.  About  a  year  ago  it  was  purchased  by 
Mr.  Caldwell  at  an  executor's  sale,  Mr.  C.  being  executor 
of  the  estate,  which  had  belonged  to  his  late  sister,  Mrs. 
Deans.  The  house  and  lot  cost  $16,000  and  the  valuable 
furniture  nearly  $6,000. 

"April  21.  Mr.  Caldwell  has  expressed  the  desire 
that  the  house  recently  donated  by  him  to  me  should 
be  used  as  a  home  for  the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor.  The 
Sisters  were  incorporated  on  the  16th  under  the  title  of 
The  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor  in  Richmond.'  Both 
houses  of  the  legislature  passed  the  bill  unanimously, 
suspending  the  rules  in  order  to  expedite  its  passage. 
The  Governor  promptly  signed  the  bill.  It  is  my  inten- 
tion, as  soon  as  the  Sisters  arrive,  to  hand  the  property 
over  to  them,  together  with  the  furniture  it  contains." 
[The  Bishop  here  pasted  the  act  of  incorporation  in  his 
journal.] 

*  Father  of  Mary  Gwendoline  Caldwell,  who  afterward  gave  $3(X).ooo 
for  the  founding  of  the  Catholic  University  at  Washington. 


160  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"May  23.  Mr.  W.  S.  Caldwell,  the  donor  of  the 
property  occupied  by  the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor,  died 
today.     R.  I.  P. 

"Aug.  11.  Assisted  by  Fathers  Gross  and  Reilly,  I 
blessed  the  new  Church  of  St.  Mark,  near  Dr.  Monk's 
residence,  in  Sampson  county.  North  Carolina.  Re- 
ligious exercises  were  held  for  three  consecutive  days  in 
the  church  and  were  well  attended,  especially  on  Sun- 
day, the  1 1  th,  when  nearly  500  persons  were  present. 
The  church  is  a  neat  frame  building  about  35  by  ^^  and 
was  built  chiefly  by  the  exertions  of  Dr.  Monk. 

"Oct.  13.  This  afternoon  the  Little  Sisters  of  the 
Poor  arrived  and  immediately  took  formal  possession  of 
their  new  home,  corner  Ninth  and  Marshall  streets.  The 
community  numbers  six  members,  of  whom  the  superior 
is  Sister  Virginia — very  appropriately  called.  *  *  *  j 
have  deeded  the  property  to  them  and  in  accordance  with 
the  wish  of  Mr.  Caldwell,  which  he  made  known  to  Mr. 
Charles  O'Conor,  of  New  York,  I  shall  deliver  to  the 
Sisters  the  $2,000  which  were  bequeathed  to  me  by  the 
late  Mr.  Caldwell. 

"Dec.  4.  I  returned  from  a  visit  to  Lancaster  and 
Northumberland  counties,  whither  I  went  on  the  29th 
inst.  with  Father  Tiernan.  We  found  about  20  Catholics 
in  both  counties.  There  is  much  religious  indifference 
among  the  non-Catholics.  The  few  faithful  manifest 
generally  a  zealous  spirit.  I  preached  in  an  old  shop 
at  Lancaster  Court  House,  the  court  house  having  beeti 
refused  me.    The  audience  was  small. 

"Feb.  [1876].  On  Sunday,  Jan.  30,  I  introduced 
to  the  congregation  in  Petersburg  the  new  community  of 
Sisters  of  Charity  just  established  there  and  afterward 
preached  during  the  High  Mass. 

"6.  I  preached  at  the  rededication  of  St.  Bridget's 
Church  in  Baltimore.^ 

*  His  only  pastoral  charge. 


BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  151 

"March  25.  Bishop  Kain,  of  Wheeling,  having 
asked  of  the  Holy  See  a  redistribution  of  the  dioceses  of 
Richmond  and  Wheeling,  the  Cardinal  ^  inclosed  to  me 
a  copy  of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop's  petition.  I  imme- 
diately wrote  to  the  Cardinal,  objecting  to  the  proposed 
change,  which  was  that  the  diocese  of  Wheeling  should 
include  all  West  Virginia  and  the  diocese  of  Richmond 
all  Virginia.  This  morning  I  received  a  reply  from  the 
Cardinal  acquiescing  in  my  objection  and  declining  to 
authorize  any  change. 

"June  7.  I  replied  to  Dr.  Benoit,  President  of  Mill 
Hill  College,  England,  accepting  his  proposal  of  send- 
ing to  Richmond  two  fathers  for  the  evangelizing  of  the 
negroes.  I  promise  to  pay  traveling  expenses  and  one 
thousand  dollars  a  year  for  three  years. 

"July  20.  I  visited  Danville  and  preached  there  at 
night  in  the  Odd  Fellows  Hall. 

"July  28.  Went  by  private  conveyance  to  Coving- 
ton, Allegheny  county,  a  distance  of  42  miles,''  having 
crossed  the  North  Mountain. 

"30.  Preached  and  confirmed  in  the  Methodist 
church. 

"Oct.  13.  Sent  Cardinal  Franchi  126  pounds  sterling 
and  13  shillings  for  the  Holy  Father.  I  urged  also  the 
early  appointment  of  a  Vicar  Apostolic  for  North  Caro- 
lina. 

"Nov.  26.  During  the  present  month,  at  the  request 
of  Archbishop  Bayley,  who  is  infirm,  I  administered  con- 
firmation in  several  churches  in  Washington  and  Balti- 
more, also  at  Laurel. 

"Jan.  3  [1877].  I  bought  for  the  Little  Sisters  of 
the  Poor  the  property  known  as  Warsaw,  occupying  a 
whole  square  bounded  by  Harvie,  Main,  Penn  and  Floyd 
streets.    The  property  cost  $12,500." 

'Cardinal  Franchi. 
'  From  Lexington. 


152  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

A  robber  broke  into  Bishop  Gibbons'  room  at  the  house 
of  a  Mr.  Conigland  at  Halifax,  North  Carolina,  while 
he  was  visiting  there  early  in  January,  1874.  ^is 
journal  shows  that  he  had  preached  on  the  evening  be- 
fore in  a  schoolhouse  to  a  ''congregation  of  about  20 
persons,"  the  small  size  of  which  he  accounted  for  by 
"the  exceedingly  dark  night  and  rainy  weather."  He 
added:  *'It  was  with  much  difficulty  that  we  could  be 
conveyed  from  Mr.  Conigland's  to  the  schoolhouse." 

That  night  the  Bishop  was  disturbed  about  4:30 
o'clock  by  the  barking  of  dogs.  Awaking,  he  heard  at 
first  indistinctly,  but  soon  with  clearness,  a  noise  in  his 
room  caused  by  a  thief  who  was  searching  for  plunder. 
With  the  fearlessness  which  he  always  showed  in  emer- 
gencies of  every  kind,  he  leaped  from  his  bed  to  attack 
the  robber,  who  fled  precipitately,  not  daring  to  risk  the 
impending  conflict.  The  Bishop  wrote  in  his  journal 
in  describing  the  incident : 

"I  called  out  once  or  twice  'Who  is  there*?'  but  re- 
ceived no  answer,  and,  suspecting  a  robber,  I  jumped  out 
of  bed  and  the  robber  just  escaped,  leaving  my  vest  at 
the  door,  which  contained  about  $150.  Fortunately  I 
missed  nothing,  though  my  Cross  was  lying  on  the  table 
and  my  watch  under  the  pillow.  I  have  reason  to  thank  a 
watchful  Providence  for  the  safety  of  my  effects  and 
still  more  for  the  preservation  of  my  life.  The  would-be 
robber  had  entered  the  house  through  a  window  and  on 
retreating  left  on  the  ground  the  print  of  a  large  naked 
foot.  It  was  fortunate  that  I  did  not  seize  him,  as  he 
probably  would  have  overpowered  me." 

While  in  Wilmington  on  one  of  his  visits,  the  Bishop 
issued  a  pamphlet  on  "Sacramental  Confession"  which 


BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  153 

he  records  was  "in  reply  to  a  'charge'  by  the  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  Atkinson,  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop  of  North 
Carolina." 

His  journal  also  shows  that  after  his  return  from  the 
Vatican  Council  he  took  occasion  to  preach  or  lecture 
frequently  on  the  much  discussed  work  of  that  gathering, 
particularly  the  declaration  of  the  infallible  teaching 
office  of  the  Papacy.  Entries  of  this  kind  are  numerous 
in  his  memoranda  of  labors  in  both  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina.  Another  subject  which  he  often  discussed  in 
the  pulpit  was  Christian  education,  there  being  a  great 
lack  of  parochial  schools  in  the  diocese  and  vicariate. 
Already  he  had  begun  to  devote  a  considerable  share  of, 
attention  to  work  in  behalf  of  temperance  in  the  use  of 
liquor,  and  his  journal  shows  that  not  a  few  of  his  ad- 
dresses on  that  topic  were  made  at  the  request  of  and 
before  non-Catholic  organizations. 

His  records  of  the  finances  of  his  diocese  present  some 
interesting  figures.  For  the  year  1874  ^^^  tabulation 
indicates  that  the  clergy  of  the  Richmond  Cathedral  were 
by  no  means  affluent,  the  following  being  among  his 
memoranda : 

Clergyman's  salaries,  $320.41;  servants'  wages, 
$333.50;  organist's  salary,  $300.00. 

The  household  expenses  for  the  several  clergy 
who  resided  with  him  were  set  down  in  the  list   as 

$1948. 

Everywhere  he  went.  Gibbons  was  a  "Defender  of  the 
Faith,"  a  role  in  which  he  took  unquestioned  preeminence 
later.  He  thus  related  the  story  of  the  conversion  of 
an  infidel  in  Richmond: 


154  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"I  was  requested  by  a  lady  in  Richmond  to  call  on  her 
husband,  who  was  suffering  from  a  fatal  malady,  while 
his  mind  retained  its  vigor.  This  gentleman  had  been 
brought  up  in  the  school  of  Voltaire  and  his  followers, 
whose  infidel  teachings  he  had  imbibed,  and  he  avowed 
himself  not  only  an  unbeliever  in  the  Catholic  faith,  but 
even  a  skeptic  in  all  revealed  religion. 

"In  my  conference  with  him  I  endeavored  by  every 
argument  at  my  command  to  remove  his  objections 
against  Christianity,  and  to  prepare  him  for  a  rational 
acceptance  of  our  holy  religion.  After  listening  to  me 
with  great  patience  and  close  attention,  he  courteously 
but  frankly  informed  me  that  my  remarks  did  not  alter 
his  views  on  religion,  that  between  him  and  me  there 
was  an  impassable  gulf  which  no  reasoning  of  mine  could 
bridge  over. 

"Though  mortified  and  discouraged  by  his  candid 
reply,  I  did  not  despair,  but  resumed  the  conversation, 
substantially  as  follows :  'You  certainly  acknowledge,  as 
an  intelligent  man,'  I  said,  'the  existence  of  a  Supreme 
Being,  the  Author  of  all  creation  and  of  all  life.'  'Every 
man,'  he  replied,  'that  uses  his  brains  must  concede  that 
truth.'  'You  must  further  admit,'  I  continued,  'that  as 
this  Author  of  our  being  is  omniscient.  He  knows  our  con- 
dition; as  He  is  omnipotent.  He  has  power  to  succor  us, 
and  as  He  is  infinitely  good.  He  is  not  insensible  to  our 
wants.  He,  from  whom  all  paternity  is  derived,  must 
possess  in  an  eminent  degree,  those  paternal  feelings  that 
an  earthly  father  has  for  his  child.'  'That  truth,'  he  re- 
plied, 'irresistibly  follows  from  our  conception  of  a  Being 
infinitely  intelligent,  powerful  and  beneficent.'  'Is  it  not 
reasonable  to  suppose,'  I  added,  'that  a  Creator  so  benevo- 
lent will  be  moved  by  our  entreaties,  and  that  He  will 
mercifully  hearken  to  our  petitions'?'  'I  cannot  deny,'  he 
said,  'the  reasonableness  of  your  conclusion.' 

"  'Then,'  I  observed,  'you  admit  the  utility  of  prayer, 


BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  155 

and  I  ask  you  to  promise  me  to  offer  up  to  this  Supreme 
Providence  this  short  petition:  O  God,  give  me  light  to 
see  the  truth,  and  strength  to  follow  it/  He  gave  me 
the  earnest  assurance  that  he  would  repeat  this  prayer 
day  by  day  as  long  as  he  had  strength. 

"Some  days  later  I  received  a  pressing  message  from 
my  invalid  friend  to  visit  him  again  as  soon  as  possible. 
I  did  so,  and  on  entering  his  room  I  was  deeply  impressed 
with  the  glow  of  enthusiasm  that  shone  on  his  face. 
Before  I  had  time  to  address  him  he  burst  forth  into  an 
eloquent  profession  of  faith  in  the  divinity  of  the  Catho- 
lic religion,  and  begged  to  receive  the  grace  of  Baptism 
in  the  presence  of  his  old  friends  and  associates,  some 
of  whom  had  shared  in  his  unbelief.  He  died  some  weeks 
afterwards,  fortified  by  the  consolations  of  religion. 

"From  the  depth  of  his  spiritual  darkness  he  had  im- 
plored light  from  the  Father  of  Light,  and  the  Lord 
darted  into  his  soul  a  ray  of  heavenly  light  that  illumined 
his  mind  and  tranquillized  his  heart  more  effectually 
than  any  human  reasoning  could  have  accomplished."  ® 

During  the  five  years  when  Bishop  Gibbons  presided 
over  the  Richmond  diocese,  the  number  of  churches  in- 
creased from  15  to  24,  with  about  the  same  number  of 
chapels  or  stations,  to  which  24  priests  ministered.  Ten 
new  parochial  schools  were  established.  The  diocese  was 
kept  virtually  free  from  debt.® 

He  was  not  able  during  this  period  to  obtain  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  Vicar  Apostolic  for  North  Carolina.  The 
faithful  Father  Gross  wrote  in  February,  1876: 

"When,  on  the  death  of  the  Bishop  of  Richmond, 
Bishop  Gibbons  was  nolens  volens  inducted  by  his  Holi- 

'  He  gave  this  account  in  a  sermon  on  "Prayer,  Source  of  Light,  Com- 
fort and  Strength." 

"Catholic  Standard,  Philadelphia,  October  27,  1877,  quoted  by  Reily, 
Collections  in  the  Life  and  Times  of  Cardinal  Gibbons,  Vol.  2,  p.  113. 


156  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ness  Pius  IX  into  the  See  of  Richmond,  with  the  title 
of  Administrator  Apostolic  over  the  vicariate  of  North 
Carolina,  it  was  but  the  change  of  an  additional  new 
field,  bringing  an  increase  of  the  same  arduous  duties. 
The  change  was,  and  still  is,  keenly  felt  by  the  people 
and  especially  by  the  clergy  of  North  Carolina.  But 
the  vicariate  is  not  forgotten,  nor  is  it  neglected.  Fre- 
quent visits  are  made  in  the  State,  when  the  Bishop  lec- 
tures upon  Catholic  truths  and  cheers  the  hearts  of  all, 
laity  and  clergy,  by  his  presence.  The  citizens  of  Wil- 
mington, Raleigh,  Charlotte,  Salisbury  and  Fayetteville 
frequently  enjoy  his  strong  and  engaging  discourses  in 
explanation  of  Catholic  doctrine.  He  has  multiplied 
his  help  by  the  admission  of  priests  for  the  mission.  .  .  . 

"But,  thank  God,  if  the  field  of  North  Carolina  has 
been  well  worked,  the  fruit  has  been  abundant.  No 
Catholics  are  more  fervent;  no  people  are  more  easily 
won  over  to  the  faith.  Of  three  missions,  two  of  them 
can  boast  of  a  hundred  converts  each ;  thfe  other  of  thirty. 
Male  and  female  Catholic  schools  have  been  established. 
In  a  word.  Rev.  Dr.  Gibbons  found  in  North  Carolina 
in  1868  three  priests  (one  borrowed,  since  returned), 
now  there  are  seven  or  eight;  he  found  700  Catholics, 
now  there  are  1600;  .  .  .  The  word  is  still  'onward' 
in  North  Carolina. 

"An  impression  prevails  that  the  Catholics  could  not 
support  their  Vicar  and  Bishop,  hence  his  removal.  They 
could  not  honor  him,  indeed,  with  these  episcopal  sur- 
roundings becoming,  but  not  necessary  to,  his  sublime 
office  of  Bishop.  Such  wealth  of  catholicity  North  Caro- 
lina does  not  possess.  The  Pope's  Vicar  did  not  come 
to  find  and  enjoy  the  becoming  honors  and  dignity  of  an 
established  diocese,  but  to  accept  and  to  perform  the 
duty  of  a  Bishop — to  preach  the  gospel,  to  convert  souls ; 
to  accept  the  poverty  of  a  vicariate,  and  by  his  apostolic 
labor,  to  make  it  rich  with  the  wealth  of  Catholic  faith. 


'       BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  157 

"The  field  of  North  Carolina,  with  its  poverty  and 
trials,  and  sparse  Catholicity,  was,  and  is  yet,  not  too 
much  for  our  Vicar,  nor  for  any  one  whom  the  Holy 
Father  may  judge  to  send.  Everything  has  a  beginning. 
Even  the  gospel  of  Christ  has  its  seed.  Others  may  enter 
into  our  labor  and  may  enjoy  its  fruits.  The  more 
numerous  and  imperative  wants  of  the  Richmond  diocese, 
widowed  by  the  death  of  Rev.  Dr.  McGill,  removed  our 
Vicar.  Rather  the  spiritual  poverty  of  the  Richmond 
diocese  caused  the  transfer  than  any  failure  in  North 
Carolina. 

"Our  Vicar  was  removed  with  the  promise  of  another; 
but  our  Bishop's  zeal  is  so  untiring,  his  charity  so  un- 
selfish, that  though  we  constantly  regret,  we  feel  the 
less  his  transfer.  Catholicity  is  still  advancing  in  North 
Carolina,  and  rapidly,  though  our  Vicar's  undivided 
efforts  would,  of  course,  produce  still  greater  results."  ^'^ 

Bishop  Gibbons'  ties  with  the  archdiocese  of  Baltimore 
were  closer  during  his  period  of  residence  in  Richmond 
than  while  he  had  lived  in  Wilmington.  He  frequently 
visited  Baltimore  to  assist  in  ecclesiastical  ceremonies 
and  became,  in  fact,  almost  as  much  identified  with  one 
diocese  as  the  other.  His  selection  as  the  preacher  at 
the  consecration  of  the  Baltimore  Cathedral  May  25, 
1876,  was  singularly  happy,  as  no  one  could  have  been 
expected  to  speak  with  more  deeply  aroused  sensibilities 
of  that  edifice."  It  had  been  a  part  of  his  life  and  his 
life  had  been  a  part  of  it. 

The  occasion  was  one  to  move  powerfully  any  Catholic 
prelate.    Within  two  hundred  feet  of  the  Cathedral  had 

^"Letter  to  the  Southern  Cross,  February  9,  1876,  quoted  by  Reily,  Vol. 

II,  p.  io6,  et  seq.  .  .       *     i. 

"The  corner-stone  of  the  Cathedral  had  been  laid  m  1806  by  Arch- 
bishop Carroll,  but  it  was  not  free  of  debt  until  seventy  years  later. 


158  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

been  old  St.  Peter's  Church,  the  first  of  the  Catholic 
religion  in  Baltimore,  erected  about  1770  on  the  north 
side  of  what  is  now  Saratoga  Street,  near  Charles  Street, 
on  land  bought  six  years  before  from  Charles  Carroll, 
father  of  Charles  Carroll  of  Carollton.  For  the  realiza- 
tion of  his  dream  of  a  Cathedral,  Archbishop  Carroll  had 
raised  $225,000,  a  great  sum  in  those  days,  by  collections, 
subscriptions  and  even  by  a  lottery,  which  accorded  with 
the  custom  of  the  times.  Benjamin  H.  Latrobe,  the 
architect  of  the  Capitol  in  Washington,  drew  the  plans. 

The  Cathedral  was  cruciform  in  its  original  outlines. 
It  is  now  capped  by  Byzantine  towers  which  dominate  its 
architectural  tone.  The  great  blocks  of  granite  for  its 
construction  were  hauled  from  Ellicott  City,  ten  miles 
distant,  by  oxen.  John  Eager  Howard,  hero  of  the  bat- 
tle of  the  Cowpens,  gave  much  of  the  large  lot  on  which 
it  stands  and  which  lends  to  it  the  spaciousness  of  lawn 
and  terrace  lacking  in  so  many  Cathedrals  planted  in  the 
midst  of  crowded  building  areas  in  American  cities. 

The  War  of  1812  stopped  the  work,  and  while  still  un- 
finished the  edifice  was  dedicated  May  31,  1821,  by 
Archbishop  Marechal.  Seven  years  later  the  same  Arch- 
bishop gave  it  a  large  bell,  bought  in  his  native  France, 
and  completed  one  of  the  towers.  Archbishop  Eccleston 
finished  the  second  tower  and  Archbishops  Kenrick  and 
Spalding  erected  the  noble  portico  adorned  with  huge 
pillars. 

In  the  crypt  of  this  venerable  church  the  bodies  of 
Carroll  and  the  succeeding  Archbishops  have  found 
sepulture.  The  Provincial  Council  of  1829,  the  first  of 
the  Catholic  Church  in  any  English-speaking  country 


BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  159 

since  the  Reformation,  was  held  within  its  walls.  Among 
the  historic  church  edifices  of  America  the  Baltimore 
Cathedral  is  easily  first  in  importance,  though  not  in 
antiquity.^^ 

In  his  sermon  at  the  consecration,  Bishop  Gibbons 
dwelt  on  the  history  of  the  Cathedral  and  the  permanency 
of  the  Church  and  then  struck  a  note  which  had  already 
become  characteristic  of  him.     He  said : 

''Need  it  be  repeated  that  the  Church  is  slandered 
when  it  is  charged  that  she  is  inimical  to  liberty^  The 
Church  flourishes  only  in  the  beams  of  liberty.  She  has 
received  more  harm  from  the  tyranny  and  oppression  of 
kings  and  rulers  than  any  other  victim  of  their  power. 
We  pray  for  the  prosperity  of  this  our  young  country. 
In  this,  its  centennial  year,  we  rejoice  that  it  has  lived 
to  show  a  sturdy  life  of  liberty  and  regard  for  right  and 
we  raise  the  prayer,  'esto  perpetua'  " 

The  same  note  from  the  same  strong  voice  was  to  bq 
heard  in  the  Cathedral  pulpit  only  a  little  more  than 
a  year  later  when  the  Bishop  of  Richmond  had  become 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  The  way  was  being  prepared 
for  the  honors  that  were  to  come  to  Gibbons.  On  March 
28,  1875,  h^  wrote  in  his  journal: 

"Archbishop  McCloskey  is  created  Cardinal,  being  the 
first  American  who  has  received  that  dignity." 

On  April  27  he  noted: 

"I  was  present  with  many  prelates  at  the  ceremony 
of  conferring  the  (red)  biretta  on  Cardinal  McCloskey 
in  the  Cathedral  of  New  York." 

"Riordan,  Cathedral  Records,  pp.  93-98. 


160  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

While  his  thoughts  at  the  time  were  far  from  associat- 
ing his  own  career  with  that  honor,  it  is  interesting  to 
observe  that  he  viewed  it  in  much  the  same  light  as  that 
in  which  his  appointment  as  Cardinal  afterwards  im- 
pressed him — an  honor  to  his  country  and  to  its  Prot- 
estant as  well  as  Catholic  people.  He  thus  expressed 
himself: 

"The  Hierarchy  of  the  United  States  will  rejoice  to 
hear  that  this  eminent  dignity  has  been  conferred  on  an 
American  prelate  who  has  endeared  himself  to  the  Church 
by  his  long  services  in  the  cause  of  religion,  his  marked 
ability,  his  unostentatious  piety  and  great  suavity  of 
manners.  I  am  persuaded  also  that  not  only  the  Catholic 
body  of  this  country  but  our  citizens  at  large  will  receive 
with  just  pride  the  intelligence  that  the  Holy  Father 
has  determined  to  associate  an  American  Bishop  with 
the  members  of  the  Sacred  College.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  the  venerable  Archbishop  of  New  York  will  fill  with 
marked  distinction  and  wisdom  that  exalted  and  re- 
sponsible position."  ^^ 

While  serving  in  Richmond  Bishop  Gibbons  uttered 
the  first  of  those  vigorous  declarations  on  public  ques- 
tions which  the  whole  nation  came  to  heed  later.  He 
assailed  the  proposal  made  by  President  Grant  in  a  mes- 
sage to  Congress  December  7,  1875,  for  the  enactment 
of  a  Constitutional  amendment  tending  in  the  direction 
of  Federal  control  of  education,  saying: 

"The  Constitutional  amendment  regarding  the  school 
question,  recommended  by  President  Grant,  if  carried 
out,  would  reduce  our  American  republic  to  the  condi- 

^  New  York  Herald,  March  14,  1875. 


BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  161 

tion  of  things  that  existed  in  pagan  Rome.  In  the  Old 
Roman  empire  the  individual  was  absorbed  by  the  State, 
which  was  a  political  juggernaut  crushing  under  its 
wheels  all  personal  liberty.  .  .  . 

"The  most  crushing  of  all  despotisms  is  that  of  a 
centralized  government.  It  is  the  idol  before  which  the 
citizen  must  offer  in  sacrifice  his  personal  liberty  as  well 
as  his  parental  rights  over  his  children,  for  the  govern- 
ment, in  assuming  the  education  of  the  child,  usurps  the 
place  of  the  father  and  robs  him  of  his  most  sacred  privi- 
lege— that  of  directing  the  training  of  his  offspring.  And 
what  becomes  of  liberty  when  it  is  lost  in  the  individual 
and  the  family*?  It  is  to  that  personal  freedom  (which 
always  involves  personal  responsibility  and  personal 
energy)  that  we  are  chiefly  indebted  as  a  nation. 

'The  general  government  has  no  more  right  to  dictate 
to  the  father  when  and  where  and  how  he  must  educate 
his  children  than  it  has  to  prescribe  his  food  or  the  shape 
of  his  clothes.  Those  who  advocate  this  system  of  cen- 
tralization are  slavishly  imitating  the  most  absolute  gov- 
ernments in  Continental  Europe.  Besides,  if  popular 
education  is  wrested  from  the  family  and  the  State  and 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Federal  government,  of  what- 
ever political  party,  it  will  give  the  administration  an 
overwhelming  patronage  which  would  destroy  all  balance 
of  power  and  reduce  minorities  to  a  mere  cipher.  Nor 
do  I  see  how  paganism  and  religion  can  be  simultaneously 
excluded  from  the  schools  as  the  President  proposes,  for 
if  an  education  excludes  all  religion  it  is  necessarily 
pagan,  there  being  no  medium  between  the  two  terms. 

"To  tax  church  property  and  charitable  institutions  is 
putting  a  premium  on  infidelity  and  avarice  and  makes 
religion  and  philanthropy  arduous  by  imposing  a  penalty 
on  those  who  maintain  Christianity  and  support  chari- 
table houses.  The  inevitable  result  of  such  taxation 
would  be  to  cripple  the  churches  and  increase  the  burden 


162  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of  the  State  by  making  it  the  almoner  of  those  poor  who 
are  now  maintained  by  private  benevolence."  ^* 

The  Bishop  expressed  the  belief  that  the  American 
people  would  never  indorse  such  proposals.^ ^ 

The  Bishop's  farewell  sermon  to  the  people  of  his 
diocese  in  St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  October  14,  1877,  when 
he  had  been  elevated  to  the  See  of  Baltimore,  reflected 
the  modesty  with  which  he  contemplated  the  results  of 
the  task  that  had  been  fulfilled.  Though  he  had  done 
so  much  for  Virginians,  he  gave  the  human  credit  to 
his  predecessor,  Bishop  McGill.     He  said: 

"Ever  since  I  took  charge  of  this  portion  of  the  Lord's 
vineyard,  God  has  singularly  blessed  us.  To  Him  be 
all  the  honor  and  glory.  Every  other  cause  of  success 
is  secondary  to  Him.  Paul  soweth,  ApoUos  watereth, 
but  God  giveth  the  increase.  Without  Him,  we  would 
have  made  no  progress.  We  would  have  fished  all  night, 
like  Peter,  and  caught  nothing. 

"Next  to  God,  you  are  indebted  to  my  venerable  and 
illustrious  predecessor,  who  left  the  diocese  in  a  solvent 
and  healthy  condition.  He  was  a  man  of  eminent  pru- 
dence and  discretion,  and  of  caution  verging  on  timidity. 
He  might  have  gained  for  himself  a  great  name  for 
enterprise  and  material  progress  by  erecting  churches 
and  other  institutions  throughout  the  diocese,  without 
regard  to  expense.  But  with  all  that,  he  might  have 
bequeathed  to  his  successor  a  load  of  debt  which  would 
have  paralyzed  his  usefulness  and  crushed  his  heart. 

"President  Grant  in  this  message  proposed  an  amendment  to  the 
Federal  Constitution  requiring  the  States  to  maintain  free  schools  adequate 
to  the  education  of  every  child,  "forbidding  the  teaching  in  said  schools 
of  religious,  atheistic  or  pagan  tenets,"  and  prohibiting  the  granting  of 
school  funds  in  any  State,  "in  aid  directly  or  indirectly  of  any  religious 
sect  or  denomination."  He  also  favored  the  taxation  of  all  church 
property. 

"New  York  Herald,  December  ii,  1875. 


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BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND  163 

"He  left  me  few  debts  to  pay  and  few  scandals  to 
heal.  He  left  a  diocese  without  incumbrance  and  a 
character  without  reproach.  It  was  fortunate  for  this 
diocese  that  Bishop  McGill  presided  over  its  destinies 
for  upwards  of  twenty  years,  for  he  stamped  his  char- 
acter upon  the  older  clergy,  who  had  the  happiness  of 
observing  his  edifying  life  and  of  being  associated  with 
him  in  the  ministry. 

"It  is  very  gratifying  to  me,  though  this  is  the  first 
occasion  I  have  done  so,  to  speak  in  terms  of  praise  of 
the  clergy  of  this  diocese.  Other  priests,  indeed,  I  have 
met  who  have  a  greater  reputation  for  learning  and  the 
graces  of  oratory,  but  taken  as  a  body,  I  have  never  met 
any  priests  to  surpass  those  of  this  diocese  in  attachment 
to  duty,  in  singleness  of  purpose,  in  personal  virtue  and 
obedience  to  the  voice  of  authority.  And  if  I  be 
permitted  to  single  out  some  of  the  clergy  from  among 
their  colleagues,  surely  I  can  point  with  peculiar  joy  to 
the  Cathedral  clergy,  who  have  lived  with  me  as  mem- 
bers of  the  same  household,  and  who  have  always  de- 
ported themselves  in  a  manner  becoming  their  sacred  call- 
ing. ...  If  I  could  lift  the  veil  and  reveal  to  you  their 
domestic  life,  I  could  disclose  to  you  a  spirit  of  order, 
peace  and  brotherly  concord  which  I  hope  to  see  imitated, 
but  dare  not  hope  to  see  surpassed. 

"As  for  you,  brethren  of  the  laity,  you  can  bear  me 
witness  that  I  never  indulged  you  by  vain  flattery,  but 
that  I  have  always  endeavored  to  propose  to  you  your 
duty,  no  matter  how  distasteful  it  might  have  been  to 
flesh  and  blood.  But  on  the  present  occasion  I  would  be 
doing  violence  to  my  own  feelings  if  I  did  not  express 
my  deep  sense  of  admiration  for  the  piety  of  many  of 
you,  which  edified  me;  for  the  obedience  of  all  of  you, 
which  consoled  me,  and  for  your  spirit  of  generosity, 
which  strengthened  my  hands.  I  have  never  had  occasion 
to  rebuke  you  for  any  factious  opposition,  still  less  for 


164.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

any  manifestation  of  a  rebellious  spirit,  and  I  have  al- 
ways found  you  ready  with  heart  and  hand  to  second  any 
effort  I  proposed  for  the  advancement  of  religion.  .  .  . 
"I  cannot  without  regret  depart  from  a  city  to  which 
I  am  bound  by  so  many  attachments,  and  from  a  people 
who  have  always  manifested  so  much  kindness  toward 
me.  I  ask  your  prayers  all  the  time.  I  do  not  ask  you 
to  pray  that  I  may  have  a  long  life — that  is  immaterial 
— but  pray  that  God  may  give  light  to  my  understand- 
ing, strength  to  my  heart  and  rectitude  to  my  will,  in 
order  to  fulfil  well  the  duties  that  may  devolve  upon  me. 
I  pray  that  God  may  send  you  a  Bishop  according  to 
His  own  heart — a  man  of  zeal  and  mercy,  who  will  cause 
virtue  and  religion  and  faith  to  flourish  and  bear  fruit 
throughout  the  length  of  the  diocese."  ^® 

His  fellow  citizens  of  Richmond  without  distinction 
of  religious  belief  viewed  his  departure  with  regret.  Al- 
ready he  had  become  much  more  than  an  ecclesiastical 
figure  in  the  public  eye.  Many  testimonials  of  the  esteem 
for  him  which  had  become  deeply  rooted  there  brightened 
his  last  days  in  the  diocese.  His  journal  contains  this 
entry  for  October  16,  1877,  recording  the  parting  evi- 
dence of  his  priests'  affection: 

"The  clergy  of  the  diocese  dined  with  me  today,  hav- 
ing kindly  come  from  their  respective  homes  to  say  good- 
by.  After  dinner,  through  Father  O'Keefe,  they  pre- 
sented me  a  beautiful  chalice.  The  paten  and  cup  are 
solid  gold;  the  other  parts  are  silver  gilt." 

"Catholic  Mirror,  October  20,  1877. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE 

Now  the  frail  student  who  had  staggered  half  faint- 
ing from  the  classroom,  despairing  over  the  thought  that 
early  death  was  to  be  his  portion,  instead  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical career  which  he  so  ardently  desired,  was  near  the 
climax  of  his  transformation  in  the  processes  of  time. 
At  forty-three  years  of  age  he  was  called  from  Richmond 
to  become  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  and  his  elevation  to 
the  See  was  marked  by  an  outburst  of  general  acclamation 
in  the  two  dioceses  such  as  the  elevation  of  no  Catholic 
prelate  in  the  United  States  had  evoked  before  that  time. 

Intolerance  in  religion,  the  monstrous  foe  which  he 
had  faced  with  undaunted  courage  and  fought  unceas- 
ingly from  the  moment  of  his  advent  in  North  Carolina, 
was  beginning  to  weaken  under  his  powerful  assaults. 
Non-Catholics  as  well  as  Catholics  hailed  his  promotion 
as  an  honor  bestowed  upon  a  man  of  God  and  a  man  of 
the  people,  a  friend  of  humanity  without  distinction  of 
creed,  a  patriot  whose  civic  example  was  inspiring  to 
all  his  fellow  countrymen. 

His  gifts  were  too  evident  to  be  concealed  longer  by 

his   exceptional   modesty,    and   his   comparative   youth 

seemed  rather  to  emphasize  them.     Modesty  in  his  case 

was  far  removed  from  shyness,  for  there  was  no  trace  of 

timidity  in  him.    Neither  did  he  exhibit  evidences  of  the 

165 


166  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

self-consciousness  with  which  many  excellent  men  are 
burdened.  His  modesty  had  taken  the  form  of  habitual 
deference  not  only  to  his  superiors  in  rank  but  also  to 
those  on  an  equality  with  him,  and  even  to  many  of 
his  inferiors,  including  persons  of  the  laity  whose  judg- 
ment he  considered  valuable.  He  had  not  seemed  desir- 
ous of  asserting  his  own  personality  or  of  dictating  opin- 
ions to  others,  and  few  men  in  executive  posts  were  as 
receptive  as  he  to  workable  suggestions  from  any  source. 

Yet  he  was  never  for  an  instant  oblivious  of  the  au- 
thority which  he  possessed,  and  the  use  of  which  was 
required  by  his  vows,  as  the  few  who  sought  to  question 
that  authority,  in  the  inevitable  experiences  of  a  Bishop's 
life,  had  ample  reason  to  know.  Greater  forcefulness 
could  not  have  been  shown  than  his  when  one  of  the 
pastors  of  the  church  at  Asheville  became  recalcitrant. 
Bishop  Gibbons  wrote  of  this  experience  to  Archbishop 
Bayley  that  it  brought  "the  most  trying  moment  of  my 
life,"  but  he  did  not  quail  in  the  performance  of  his  full 
duty  until  his  jurisdiction  had  been  reestablished  without 
question. 

Two  successive  Archbishops  of  Baltimore  had  deemed 
him  fitted  to  sit  after  them  in  the  seat  of  Carroll.  Arch- 
bishop Spalding  at  his  death  in  1872  left  a  list  of  those 
whom  he  considered  eligible  to  take  up  his  work,  and 
on  it  was  the  name  of  Gibbons,  then  only  thirty-eight 
years  old,  who  but  four  years  before  had  been  his  secre- 
tary. In  the  judgment  of  Rome,  however,  it  was  fitting 
that  the  young  Vicar  Apostolic  should  wait,  and  James 
Roosevelt  Bayley,  one  of  the  most  interesting  figures 


ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE  167 

whose  impress  has  been  left  upon  the  Catholic  Church 
in  America,  became  next  in  line. 

Bayley  was  a  near  connection  of  the  Roosevelt  family 
of  New  York,  from  which  an  American  president  after- 
wards sprang.  He  was  a  grandson  of  Dr.  Richard  Bay- 
ley,  celebrated  as  an  anatomist  and  a  pioneer  of  Ameri- 
can medicine.  Born  to  luxury  and  culture,  he  mingled 
in  the  fashionable  social  life  of  New  York  City  in  his 
younger  days.  His  family  were  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal faith  and,  his  thoughts  turning  to  the  ministry, 
he  was  ordained  in  that  church,  serving  as  rector  of  an 
important  congregation  in  New  York.  Converted  to 
the  Catholic  Church,  he  studied  for  orders  at  the  semi- 
nary of  St.  Sulpice  in  Paris  and  was  ordained  by  Arch- 
bishop Hughes,  famous  as  the  head  of  the  New  York 
archdiocese  in  the  Civil  War.  On  account  of  his  ripe 
scholarship,  he  was  made  president  of  St.  John's  Col- 
lege, Fordham,  New  York.^  His  contributions  to  litera- 
ture were  considerable.^  He  was  serving  as  Bishop  of 
Newark  when  a  warm  friendship  sprang  up  between  him 
and  Archbishop  Spalding. 

Bayley  did  not  wish  to  go  to  Baltimore,  saying:  "I 
am  too  old  a  tree  to  be  transplanted."  He  refused  to 
accept  the  idea  of  the  change  until  the  Papal  decree 
ordering  it  had  been  issued.  He  and  Gibbons  had  been 
thrown  intimately  together  at  the  Vatican  Council.  The 
Bishop  of  Newark  was  then  a  score  of  years  older  than 
the  Vicar  Apostolic  of  North  Carolina,  but  soon  strong 

*Now  Fordham  University,  New  York  City. 

'O'Gorman,  History  of  ike  Roman   Catholic  Church  in  the  United 
States,  p.  474. 


168  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ties  developed  between  them.  In  the  long  months  of 
the  Council,  when  Americans  were  participating  for  the 
first  time  in  a  general  synod  of  the  Church,  the  older 
prelate  learned  to  admire  both  the  talents  and  the  graces 
of  the  younger.  Gibbons  in  turn  was  captivated  by  the 
intellectual  powers,  the  broad  and  deep  cultivation,  the 
strong  nature  of  Bayley;  and  their  friendship  continued 
during  the  years  immediately  following  their  return  to 
America,  until  unexpected  fate  threw  them  in  closer 
contact. 

Bayley's  practical  experience  in  life  before  his  retire- 
ment into  the  semi-isolation  of  the  Church  had  continued 
to  be  of  the  greatest  use  to  him.  He  was  a  keen  judge 
of  the  capabilities  of  others  and  saw  in  his  young  friend 
traits  that  would  adorn  the  most  exalted  positions. 

Gibbons  was  one  of  the  first  to  be  informed  of  the 
elevation  of  the  new  Archbishop,  who  was  to  exert  such 
a  marked  influence  upon  his  life.    He  wrote  to  Bayley: 

"Wilmington,  N.  C, 

ccTVT  r»  T?  "August   12,    1872. 

Most  Rev.  dear  Friend:  ^  ' 

"I  have  just  received  a  private  dispatch  announcing 
your  appointment  to  Baltimore. 

"I  am  permitted  to  give  vent  at  last  to  my  feelings 
by  expressing  my  heartfelt  gratitude  to  God  and  con- 
gratulations to  you.  The  wishes  of  my  heart  are  now 
fulfilled. 

"You  will  be  glad  to  learn  that  you  have  been  the 
desired  of  Baltimore,  as  I  have  reason  to  know,  for  many 
opened  their  hearts  freely  to  me  on  the  subject. 
"Devotedly  yours  in  Christ, 

"James  Gibbons, 

"Vic.  Ap.  N.  C." 


ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE  169 

These  two  prelates  were  inducted  into  their  new  posts 
almost  at  the  same  time.  On  October  13,  1872,  when 
Bayley  was  invested  with  the  pallium  in  the  Baltimore 
Cathedral,  Gibbons  took  part  in  the  ceremony.  The 
next  Sunday  the  new  Archbishop  installed  Gibbons  in 
St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  Richmond,  as  the  head  of  that 
diocese. 

Soon  after  Archbishop  Bayley's  transfer  to  Baltimore 
his  health  became  even  more  infirm.  Lacking  a  coad- 
jutor, he  turned  to  Bishop  Gibbons  for  assistance  in 
confirmations  and  other  ceremonies  over  which  he  was 
unable  to  preside.  Richmond  being  only  a  few  hours 
distant  from  Baltimore  by  railroad,  the  arrangement  was 
a  convenient  one.  The  warm  friendship  of  the  older 
prelate  for  the  younger,  together  with  Gibbons'  ready 
acquiescence  in  all  of  the  Archbishop's  plans,  led  to  these 
calls  becoming  increasingly  frequent. 

Intimate  association  tightened  the  bonds  between  these 
churchmen  which,  as  in  the  former  instance  of  Spalding 
and  Gibbons,  became  almost  as  close  as  those  of  father 
and  son.  They  were  in  frequent  correspondence.  At 
one  time  Archbishop  Bayley's  sight  became  impaired  and 
Bishop  Gibbons  wrote : 

"Richmond,  Va., 

"March  2,  1874. 
"Most  Rev.,  dear  Archbishop  : 

"I  learned  this  morning  from  Bishop  Whelan  that 
your  eyes  are  again  giving  you  trouble.  I  know  of  no 
affliction  greater  than  impaired  sight,  especially  to  one 
like  ourselves,  who  spend  so  much  time  among  the 
ancients.  The  appearance  of  your  eyes  gives  no  indica- 
tion of  weakness.    I  trust  there  is  nothing  serious. 


170  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"I  hope  your  Grace  will  soon  pay  me  your  promised 
visit.  You  can  here  enjoy  a  few  days'  otium  cum 
dignitate.  Whatever  dig.  you  have  at  home  there  is 
little  of  the  otium.  .  .  . 

"Yours  affectionately  in  Christ, 

"James  Gibbons, 
"Bishop  of  Richmond.'* 

In  the  same  year  he  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  telling 
frankly  of  some  of  the  difficulties  which  he  encountered 
in  North  Carolina,  but  showing  characteristic  hopeful- 
ness.   He  thus  summarized  his  experiences: 

"I  have  been  lately  weeding  my  two  big  gardens  of 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  It  is  hard  work  while 
one  is  at  it,  but  is  pleasure  when  it  is  done."  ^ 

In  a  subsequent  letter  he  alluded  to  the  calmness  with 
which  the  Archbishop  contemplated  death  as  a  prospect 
of  relief  from  physical  afflictions  and,  singularly,  ex- 
pressed a  strong  desire  on  his  own  part  to  live,  perhaps 
feeling  the  irresistible  urge  of  the  larger  part  in  life  which 
awaited  him.     He  wrote : 

"Richmond,  Va., 

"November  5,  1875. 
"Most  Rev.,  dear  Archbishop: 

"As  I  have  not  heard  from  your  Grace  for  some  time, 
I  have  thought  this  morning  of  throwing  out  this  as  a 
bait  to  catch  a  letter  from  you.  I  was  in  Maryland  in 
September,  when  I  gave  a  five  days'  retreat  to  students 
of  St.  Charles'  College.  I  went  thence  to  Emmitsburg, 
where  I  was  successful  in  obtaining  two  communities  of 
Sisters  of  Charity  for  two  of  my  Virginia  missions.  That 
community  is  best  suited  to  my  section  of  the  country. 

"Letter  of  Bishop  Gibbons  to  Archbishop  Bayley,  April  23,  1874. 


ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE  171' 

"You  were  looked  for  with  eagerness  at  Emmitsburg 
when  I  was  there.  Mother  Uphemia,  though  far  from 
wishing  your  speedy  demise,  pointed  out  to  me  with  true 
exultation  your  future  mausoleum.  May  it  long  remain 
empty  of  its  guest  I  Would  that  I  could  contemplate 
death  with  as  much  complacency  as  your  Grace.  I  de- 
claim tolerably  well  on  death  in  general;  but  when  the 
question  is  narrowed  down  to  myself,  ah  I  there's  the 
difficulty.  .  .  . 

"A  very  successful  mission  at  our  Cathedral  closed  last 
Sunday  night.  It  was  given  by  the  Jesuits.  They  car- 
ried out  my  wishes  to  the  letter  by  avoiding  controversy 
in  their  sermons.  My  little  experience  in  this  region  has 
convinced  me  that  polemical  discussions  do  not  effect  as 
much  good  as  moral  discussions  interlarded  with  some 
points  of  doctrine.  .  .  . 

'T  was  exceedingly  rejoiced  to  learn  of  Mr.  Carroll's 
election.*  It  appeared  to  me  that  his  defeat  would  have 
deterred  Catholics  from  presenting  themselves  as  can- 
didates and  would  have  tempted  political  parties 
virtually  to  exclude  them  from  aspiring  to  places  of 
honor,  as  used  to  be  the  law  in  Great  Britain.  All  honor 
to  my  native  State  I  .  .  . 

"Affectionately  yours  in  our  Lord, 

"James, 

"Bishop  of  Richmond." 

The  big  turn  of  the  road  for  Gibbons  came  in  sight 
in  1874,  ^  short  time  before  he  reached  his  fortieth 
birthday.  In  that  year  Archbishop  Bayley  formed  the 
definite  decision  to  propose  him  for  coadjutor  in  the  See 
of  Baltimore  with  the  right  of  succession,  and  wrote  to 
him  announcing  that  conclusion,  which  meant  that  the 
young  Bishop  of  Richmond  would  soon  receive,  in  all 

*The  election  of  John  Lee  Carroll  as  Governor  of  Maryland. 


172  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

probability,  one  of  the  highest  honors  of  the  Church  in 
America.  Besides,  it  meant  presiding  over  the  See  where 
his  hopes  and  thoughts  had  centered  so  long. 

It  was  an  offer  which  might  have  been  expected  to 
attract  any  man,  and  to  have  drawn  forth  a  grateful 
reply  of  immediate  acceptance.  But  Gibbons  at  this 
second  decisive  stage  of  his  life,  as  at  the  first  when  he 
was  called  from  the  Canton  pastorate,  showed  an  inclina- 
tion to  obstruct  his  own  advancement  in  the  Church. 
He  wrote  a  letter  to  Bayley  which  seems  to  have  had 
the  effect  of  shaking  the  Archbishop's  resolution  tem- 
porarily.   This  was  his  reply  to  the  offer : 

"Richmond,  Va., 

"July  22,  1874. 
"Most  Rev.,  dear  Archbishop: 

"After  three  weeks  absence,  I  returned  home  last 
evening  and  found  your  welcome  letter  awaiting  me  .  .  . 

"I  would  rather  be  silent  than  speak  about  the  co- 
adjutorship.  It  has  started  various  conflicting  thoughts 
in  my  mind.  I  have  a  grounded  fear  that  I  would  not 
satisfy  your  Grace's  expectations  and  that  I  would  not 
improve  on  closer  acquaintance. 

"One  thing  would  reconcile  me  to  the  change — the 
reasonable  prospect  of  your  long  life.  I  shall  say  no 
more  but  silently  pray  that  God's  will  may  be  done. 
Things  are  now,  thank  God,  in  such  splendid  order 
in  this  diocese  that  I  have  little  trouble  directing 
affairs.  .  .  . 

"I  was  sorry  to  hear  of  your  sudden  attack.  You 
have  acted  wisely  in  leaving  106  North  Charles  Street* 
where  St.  Quietus  is  not  recognized,  but  St.  Campanus  is 

•The  former  number  on  Charles  Street,  Baltimore,  of  the  Archiepis- 
copal  residence. 


ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE  173 

always  heard  ...  I  hope  that  before  the  Fall  comes 
you  will  visit  one  of  our  Virginia  springs. 

"Affectionately  your  friend  and  brother  in  Christ, 

"James  Gibbons, 

"Bishop  of  Richmond." 

Bayley  was  well  aware  that  the  "one  thing"  which 
Gibbons  said  would  "reconcile"  him  to  the  change — the 
"reasonable  prospect  of  your  long  life" — was  but  'a 
feeble  hope.  The  letter  was,  in  effect,  an  expression  of 
unwillingness  to  accept  the  appointment,  although  not 
an  absolute  declination  to  do  so.  Bayley  pressed  the 
request ;  but  Gibbons  insisted  that  he  ought  not  to  accept 
the  coadjutorship  for  two  reasons,  general  incapacity 
and  physical  weakness  on  his  part. 

The  Archbishop  temporized  with  the  situation,  the 
need  of  early  action  being  felt  the  less  because  Bishop 
Gibbons  never  allowed  his  own  preoccupations  to  inter- 
fere with  helping  in  the  work  in  Baltimore.  Although 
he  was  then  the  spiritual  overseer  of  all  the  Catholic 
churches  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  his  capacity 
as  an  administrator  enabled  him  to  keep  both  organiza- 
tions going  at  high  speed  with  a  minimum  of  effort  on 
his  own  part.  He  had  already  developed  the  habit  of 
training  others  to  execute  independent  responsibilities, 
though  always  insistent  upon  having  full  information 
and  directing  general  policies. 

The  eyes  of  the  people  of  the  archdiocese  of  Balti- 
more, no  less  than  the  discriminating  vision  of  the  Arch- 
bishop, continued  to  turn  to  him  as  the  coming  man.  In 
Baltimore  he  had  been  born  and  baptized;  studied  for 
the  ministry  and  been  ordained;  served  as  parish  priest 


174.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

at  St.  Bridget's  and  as  assistant  at  the  Cathedral;  and 
the  numerous  body  of  the  clergy  there  looked  upon  him 
as  a  friend  and  a  natural  leader. 

Archbishop  Bayley,  after  two  more  years  of  associa- 
tion with  Gibbons,  obtained  a  full  understanding  with 
him,  and  proceeded,  none  too  soon,  with  the  proposal 
of  the  nomination  of  a  coadjutor.  He  wrote  in  his 
diary  March  24,  1876: 

"Two  years  ago  the  doctor  advised  me  to  obtain  the 
assistance  of  a  coadjutor.  My  health  troubles  me  so 
much  I  find  it  difficult  to  attend  to  my  duties.  Today 
I  wrote  to  his  Eminence  Cardinal  McCloskey,  Arch- 
bishops Purcell,  Kenrick,  Wood  and  Williams,  asking 
them  to  assist  me  in  obtaining  as  my  coadjutor  cum  jure 
successionis  the  Bishop  of  Richmond."  ® 

The  time  was  ripe  for  the  decisive  change  in  Bishop 
Gibbons'  career.  Events  moved  fast.  In  May,  1877, 
he  was  appointed  titular  Archbishop  of  Janopolis  and 
coadjutor  to  the  incumbent  of  the  See  of  Baltimore,  with 
the  right  of  succession;  and  when  that  prelate  died  at 
Newark,  October  3,  in  the  same  year,  he  succeeded  to  the 
post  at  once. 

These  events  are  briefly  recorded  in  his  journal  thus: 

"May  15  [1877].  Received  a  telegram  to-night 
from  Mr.  McMaster,'^  stating  that  I  was  preconized  Co- 
adjutor Bishop  of  Baltimore  cum  jure  successionis.  Fiat 
voluntas  tua.    In  manu  tua  sortes  mea. 

"The  Rev.  M.  J.  Riordan,  The  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  Vol.  2,  p.  31. 
'James  A.  McMaster,  Editor  of  the  New  York  Freeman's  Journal. 


ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE  175 

"July  26.  Returned  from  a  vacation  tour  to  Bos- 
ton, Portland,  Montreal  and  Niagara  Falls  after  an 
absence  of  three  weeks.     Father  Gaitley  ®  accompanied 

me. 

"Aug.  1.  The  bulls  appointing  me  Bishop  of  Janop- 
olis  in  partibus^  and  releasing  me  from  the  charge  of  the 
diocese  of  Richmond,  arrived  by  mail  from  Rome  today. 

"2.  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Dubreul  ^  writes  that  the  bulls 
appointing  me  coadjutor  to  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore, 
cum  jure  success,  were  forwarded  to  him  from  Philadel- 
phia by  Archbishop  Wood,  who  was  the  bearer  of  them 
from  Rome.  May  God  give  me  light  to  know  my  duty 
and  strength  to  fulfil  it. 

"27.  Repaired  to  Newark,  where  the  Most  Rev. 
Archbishop  ^^  is  sojourning  after  his  return  from  Europe. 
His  health  is  so  precarious  and  critical  that  I  anointed 
him  on  the  morning  of  the  29th. 

"Sept.  5.  I  have  written  to  the  Holy  Father, 
acknowledging  receipt  of  the  bulls  appointing  me  to 
Baltimore,  thanking  his  Holiness  for  his  confidence  in 
me  and  accepting  the  charge. 

"28.  Father  Janssens  ^^  arrived  from  Europe.  With 
the  concurrence  of  the  Archbishop,  I  have  appointed  him 
administrator  of  Richmond  and  North  Carolina  sede 
vacante.  Summoned  by  telegram,  I  left  for  Newark  to 
see  the  Archbishop,  who  is  reported  to  be  dying. 

"Oct.  3.  This  morning,  about  10:30,  the  Most  Rev. 
James  R.  Bayley,  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  died  in 
Newark  after  a  prolonged  illness.  His  death  was  peace- 
able and  without  a  struggle.  May  his  soul  this  day  be 
in  peace." 

"  His  former  classmate,  for  many  years  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's  Church, 

^'Si!i^erior  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary   and  Vicar  General  of  the  Arch- 
diocese of   Baltimore. 

"Vicar  General  of  the  diocese  of  Richmond;   afterward  Archbishop 
of  New  Orleans. 


176  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  funeral  of  Archbishop  Bayley  in  the  Baltimore 
Cathedral,  October  9,  was  marked  by  many  tributes  of 
clergy  and  people  to  the  work  of  that  remarkable  man. 
Cardinal  McCloskey,  of  New  York,  who  had  been  raised 
to  the  Sacred  College  two  years  before ;  Archbishop  Wood 
of  Philadelphia,  Archbishop  Gibbons  and  many  Bishops 
and  priests  were  present  at  the  services.  Bishop  Thomas 
Foley,  of  Chicago,  delivered  the  funeral  discourse,  re- 
calling the  exceptional  contributions  which  Bayley  had 
made  to  the  progress  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  American  people. 

The  Archbishop  had  asked  that  when  his  labors  were 
ended  his  body  should  rest  near  the  grave  of  his  aunt, 
Mother  Seton,  who  introduced  the  Sisters  of  Charity  into 
the  United  States.  It  was  taken  to  Emmitsburg,  and 
lowered  into  the  vault  beside  all  that  was  mortal  of  that 
saintly  woman.^' 

The  journal  of  Gibbons  sets  at  rest  a  misconception 
which  attained  considerable  currency.  He  had  continued 
to  reside  in  Richmond  up  to  the  time  of  Bayley's  death. 
Some  of  the  canonists  were  disposed  to  put  forward  the 
contention  that  as  he  had  not  transferred  his  seat  to 
Baltimore  he  could  not  rightfully  succeed  to  the  arch- 
bishopric, and  that  the  process  of  selection  would  have- 
to  be  carried  out  again.  When  he  moved  in  and  took 
possession  as  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  in  October,  they 
softened  their  contention  by  asserting  that  as  possession 
was  nine  points  of  the  law  it  was  useless  to  raise  the 
question  of  the  tenth  point.  Gibbons  was  considered  by 
some  of  these  observers  to  have  settled  the  matter  with 

"Riordan,  Cathedral  Records,  p.  85. 


ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE  177 

a  coup,  though  the  quotations  from  his  journal  just  given 
show  that  all  the  formalities  of  his  transfer  had  been 
complied  with. 

When  he  removed  his  residence  to  the  archiepiscopal 
house  in  his  native  city,  there  to  spend  the  remainder  of 
his  days,  he  was  at  the  halfway  point  of  his  life.  It  is 
an  interesting  circumstance  that  the  span  before  him  was 
then  exactly  forty-three  years,  his  age  upon  his  elevation 
to  the  archbishopric. 

That  the  new  Archbishop  began  his  administration 
with  the  vigor  which  marked  it  throughout,  is  shown  by 
these  entries  in  his  journal  recording  his  earliest  activi- 
ties and  impressions  in  the  seat  which  he  was  to  occupy 
so  long: 

"Oct.  19  [1877].  I  arrived  in  Baltimore,  my  future 
home,  from  Richmond  and  immediately  entered  on  my 
new  duties.  The  clergy  attached  to  the  Cathedral  are 
Rev.  Thomas  S.  Lee  (rector),  Rev.  W.  E.  Starr  (chan- 
cellor) and  Rev.  Alfred  Curtis  (secretary),  all  pious, 
zealous  and  accomplished  gentlemen,  as  far  as  my  ob- 
servation and  information  enable  me  to  judge. 

"23.  I  attended  a  meeting  in  regard  to  the  American 
College,  Rome.  The  meeting  took  place  in  the  Cardi- 
nal's house,  New  York,  and  was  attended  by  the  prelates 
composing  the  Executive  Committee,  viz.,  his  Eminence, 
the  Archbishops  of  Baltimore,  Boston  and  Philadelphia, 
and  the  Bishops  of  Newark  and  Hartford.  Bishop  Lynch 
was  also  present. 

"22.  I  visited  Rock  Hill  (College),  where  I  was 
hospitably  entertained  by  the  Brothers.  Several  priests 
and  laymen  were  present. 

"27.     I  visited  Woodstock  ^^  and  met  with  a  very 

"A  seat  of  the  Jesuits  in  Howard  County,  Maryland 


178  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

flattering  reception  from  the  fathers  and  students.  The 
Provincial,  Father  Brady,  accompanied  me  from  Balti- 
more. 

"29.  I  made  a  visitation  to  the  Carmelite  Convent 
in  company  with  Father  Hespelin,  C.  SS.  R.,  the  chap- 
lain. I  found  the  sisters  in  excellent  health  notwith- 
standing— or  rather  because  of — their  abstemiousness, 
and  a  good  spirit  appears  to  pervade  the  community. 

"30.  Captain  William  Kennedy,  of  happy  memory, 
left  $5000  that  the  capital  should  be  invested  and  masses 
be  said  for  himself  and  family  from  the  interest  accruing. 
This  $5000  had  been  invested  in  city  bonds  until  to- 
day, when  I  had  the  amount  transferred  to  city  stock: 
$300  a  year  is  the  interest  on  the  $5000,  which  is  divided 
equally  among  the  three  Cathedral  clergy,  who  are 
obliged  to  say  annually  one  hundred  masses  for  Mr. 
Kennedy  and  family.  The  rector  of  the  Cathedral  is 
charged  with  the  duty  of  carrying  out  the  terms  of  this 
fund.  This  bequest  is  duly  recorded  on  a  bronze  tablet 
in  the  sacristy." 

The  new  Archbishop  at  once  gave  evidence  of  his  keen 
judgment  of  men,  perhaps  unexcelled  in  his  time.  For 
the  vacant  bishopric  of  Richmond  his  choice  was  the  Rev. 
John  J.  Keane,^*  then  assistant  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's 
Church,  Washington,  whom  he  considered — thus  he 
wrote — "a  rare  combination  of  head  and  heart."  Gib- 
bons set  down  as  follows  in  his  journal  the  steps  taken  to 
select  his  successor  in  Virginia: 

"Oct.  20  [1877].  I  invited  the  Bishops  of  the  prov- 
ince to  attend  a  meeting  at  my  residence  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  nominations  for  the  vacancy  of  Rich- 

"  Afterward  the  first  rector  of  the  Catholic  University  of  America  and 
Archbishop  of  Dubuque. 


ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE  179 

mond.  All  the  Bishops  excepting  Dr.  Moore  of  St.  Au- 
gustine were  present,  viz.,  Bishops  Lynch,  Becker,  Gross 
and  Kain.  The  following  names  were  agreed  upon: 
Mgr.  Chatard,  Rev.  J.  J.  Keane,  Assistant  Pastor  of  St. 
Patrick's,  Washington,  and  Rev.  Harry  Northrop  of 
Charleston. 

"Dec.  7.  Wrote  to  Cardinal  Franchi  in  relation  to 
the  Richmond  appointment,  strongly  recommending  Rev. 
Father  Keane  and  expressing  the  fear  that  the  removal 
of  Mgr.  Chatard  at  the  present  juncture  from  the  rector- 
ship of  the  American  College  would  be  injurious  to  the 
College. 

"Aug.  1  [1878].  The  bulls  which  were  forwarded 
to  me  for  Dr.  Keane  of  Richmond  from  Rome  April  13 
arrived  to-day.  The  post  office  officials  of  Baltimore, 
not  being  acquainted  with  Italian,  did  not  understand 
the  name  'Giacomo'  and  advertised  the  letter  'G.  Gib- 
bons.' Not  being  called  for,  it  was  sent  to  the  Dead 
Letter  Office,  New  York,  whence  it  was  recovered  after 
I  had  made  some  investigations  at  the  Post  office." 

The  vicariate  of  North  Carolina  was  more  difficult  to 
fill.  For  this  place  Archbishop  Gibbons  recommended 
the  humble  and  devoted  priest  who  had  willingly  shared 
his  labors  and  privations  at  the  outset  of  his  episcopal 
career.    He  recorded  in  his  journal: 

"March  17  [1880].  Definite  information  has 
reached  me  in  reference  to  the  appointment  by  the  Holy 
See  of  the  Rev.  Mark  S.  Gross  to  the  Vicariate  of  North 
Carolina.  I  urged  the  appointment  very  strongly  last 
January.  . 

"April  6.  Wrote  to  Cardinal  Simeoni  acknowledging 
the  receipt  of  the  Apostolic  briefs  for  Rt.  Rev.  M.  S. 
Gross  and  expressing  the  hope  of  soon  meeting  his 
Eminence  in  Rome. 


180  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"Oct.  8.  I  wrote  to  Cardinal  Simeoni  in  regard  to 
Father  Mark  Gross'  resignation,  hoping  that  it  will  be 
accepted  on  account  of  his  ill  health  and  dread  of  the 
responsibility,  and  suggesting  that  Bishop  Keane  be  ap- 
pointed Administrator  of  North  Carolina  till  a  new 
appointment  is  made." 

The  resignation  of  the  simple-hearted  Father  Gross 
had  been  presented  at  a  meeting  of  the  Bishops  of  the 
province  held  in  Baltimore.  Gibbons  was  greatly  im- 
pressed when  his  protege,  Bishop  Keane,  made  a  char- 
acteristic proposal  to  take  up  the  work  of  the  vicariate 
and  devote  his  full  energies  to  it  if  the  Holy  See  would 
release  him  from  the  bishopric  of  Richmond.  Setting 
down  an  account  of  the  meeting  in  his  journal  the  Arch- 
bishop wrote: 

"I  shall  refer  his  (Bishop  Keane's)  magnanimous  prop- 
osition to  Cardinal  Simeoni  with  the  suggestion  that  it 
be  not  accepted." 

Bishop  Keane  continued  for  some  years  to  perform 
the  duties  of  both  the  bishopric  and  the  vicariate,  as 
Gibbons  had  done  before  him.  The  vicariate  was  finally 
filled  by  the  appointment  of  the  Rev.  H.  P.  Northrop, 
who  had  long  labored  as  a  priest  in  the  field.  Archbishop 
Gibbons  installed  him  in  St.  Thomas'  Church,  Wilming- 
ton, in  January,  1882,  returning  to  that  city  in  the  ful- 
ness of  his  new  honors  to  greet  his  old  flock. 

None  welcomed  the  Archbishop  to  Baltimore  with 
more  fervor  than  his  former  congregation  at  St.  Bridget's, 
where  only  twelve  years  before  he  had  served  in  his  only 
pastorate.  He  thus  recorded  his  return  to  them  in  his 
new  capacity: 


ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE  181 

"Dec.  2  [1877].  I  preached  at  High  Mass  in  St. 
Bridget's  Church  on  'Sanctity'  and  at  Vespers  I  con- 
firmed. The  pews  and  galleries  were  crowded  and  a  good 
portion  of  the  aisles  filled. 

"6.     I  attended  St.  Bridget's  fair  with  Dr.  Foley.'* 

Gibbons  had  already  developed  out  of  his  many-sided 
nature  a  warm  interest  in  work  for  the  reclamation  of 
wayward  boys,  which  he  retained  throughout  his  life. 
He  wrote: 

"Oct.  23  [1877].  I  presided  at  a  meeting  of  the 
trustees  of  St.  Mary's  Industrial  School,  at  which  we 
agreed  to  purchase  the  building  known  as  the  Black 
Horse  Tavern,  at  the  corner  of  High  and  Low  Streets 
(Baltimore),  from  William  A.  Stewart,  trustee.  The 
purchase  was  afterward  effected  by  William  H.  Ward, 
property  agent,  for  $11,700.  The  building  will  be  used 
as  a  home  for  the  boys  who  have  been  provided  with 
occupations  in  the  city  from  St.  Mary's  Industrial  School 
and  for  other  destitute  boys.  It  will  be  in  charge  of  the 
Xavierian  Brothers.  Many  'arabs,'  it  is  hoped,  will  be 
thus  reclaimed. 

"Dec.  9.  ...  At  3:30  I  went  to  the  Industrial 
School  with  Dr.  Chapelle,  Col.  Boone  and  Mr.  Kerchner 
and  confirmed  105  boys.  The  institution  now  contains 
370  boys  and  is  in  a  very  flourishing  condition,  being 
supported  jointly  by  the  State,  city  and  private  charity. 

"Nov.  4  [1878].  The  fair  for  St.  James'  Home  for 
Boys  ^^  commenced  this  evening.  Governor  Carroll  was 
introduced  at  the  fair  by  me  and  delivered  an  address. 
Most  of  the  city  churches  had  tables  at  the  fair. 

"20.  The  gross  receipts  of  St.  James'  fair  amount 
to  $11,300.43." 

"The  institution   at  High  and  Low   Streets,  Baltimore,  the  purcTiase 
of  ground  for  which  the  Archbishop  had  arranged  a  short  time  before. 


182  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  Archbishop  took  so  much  interest  in  this  fair  that 
he  set  down  in  his  journal  in  detail  the  receipts  obtained 
at  each  table.  His  zeal  for  the  institution  continued  and 
his  greatest  preoccupations  were  not  permitted  to  inter- 
fere with  it. 

The  new  head  of  the  archdiocese  began  a  series  of  ser- 
mons at  the  Cathedral  which  soon  became,  in  a  marked 
degree,  one  of  the  attractions  of  the  city.  Non-Catholics 
as  well  as  Catholics  who  had  known  of  him  from  his 
work  in  Richmond  crowded  the  pews  and  aisles  to  hear 
him.  Rarely  he  preached  on  a  conversational  theme; 
never  with  a  sensationalism  designed  to  attract  the  un- 
thinking. He  felt  that  the  Gospel  itself  was  strong 
enough  to  draw  men  if  it  could  be  presented  to  them 
with  clearness  and  simplicity.  He  made  no  compromise 
with  truth  and  palliated  no  sin  because  of  the  mightiness 
or  the  lowliness  of  those  who  practised  it.  As  he  cus- 
tomarily sustained  his  viewpoint  from  that  of  the 
Apostles,  many  Protestants  found  more  spiritual  sus- 
tenance in  his  discourses  than  in  those  of  their  own 
pastors. 

These  sermons  were  begun  soon  after  he  had  taken  up 
his  duties  in  Baltimore.  His  journal  contains  these 
entries : 

"Dec.  16  [1877].  I  preached  my  first  sermon  at  the 
Cathedral  since  my  appointment.  (Third  Sunday  in  Ad- 
vent, on  'The  Presence  of  God.') 

"31.     Preached  tonight  at  the  Cathedral." 

One  of  the  last  acts  of  Pius  IX  was  to  send  the  pallium 
to  Gibbons.    The  Archbishop's  journal  thus  records: 


ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE  183 

"Dec.  lo  [1877].  I  received  a  cable  dispatch  from 
Rev.  Dr.  O'Connell,  stating  that  he  sailed  to-day  from 
Liverpool  on  the  Gennanic.  He  bears  the  pallium  to 
me  from  the  Holy  Father. 

"22.  Dr.  O'Connell  arrived  this  morning  with  the 
pallium  from  Rome,  with  which  I  am  to  be  invested  Feb- 
ruary 10. 

"Jan.  7  [1878].  The  death  of  the  Holy  Father, 
Pius  IX,  was  announced  about  1  P.  M.  to-day.  Dis- 
patches were  kindly  forwarded  to  me  from  the  telegraph 
office  as  soon  as  they  came. 

"8.  About  9  this  morning  I  was  officially  notified  by 
Cardinal  McCloskey  of  the  Pope's  death  and  was  re- 
quested to  communicate  by  telegraph  the  same  intelli- 
gence to  all  the  Archbishops  of  the  country,  which  I  did. 
[Here  is  inserted  the  circular  issued  by  Archbishop  Gib- 
bons to  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  archdiocese,  giving 
directions  for  draping  the  churches  in  mourning  for  thirty 
days  and  for  Masses  and  the  tolling  of  bells.] 

"Feb.  10.  This  morning  I  received  the  pallium  in 
the  presence  of  a  large  number  of  prelates  and  priests. 
I  was  hesitating  about  proceeding  with  the  ceremony  in 
consequence  of  the  Holy  Father's  death,  but  yielded  to 
the  judgment  of  the  clergy  and  several  prelates,  includ- 
ing Cardinal  McCloskey,  whom  I  consulted  and  who  ad- 
vised me  not  to  postpone  the  ceremony." 

The  pallium  was  placed  upon  his  shoulders  by  Bishop 
Lynch,  of  Charleston,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Baltimore. 
That  city  has  been  distinguished  since  the  time  of  Carroll 
for  the  imposing  character  of  its  ecclesiastical  ceremonies 
and  the  procession  from  the  archiepiscopal  residence  to 
the  church  embraced  a  large  gathering  of  the  Hierarchy 
and  clergy,  not  one  of  whom  lived  to  see  the  completion 
of  the  career  of  the  man  whom  they  had  assembled  to 


184  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

honor.  There  were  Corrigan,  of  Newark,  destined  to 
succeed  to  the  See  presided  over  by  the  venerable  Mc- 
Closkey  and  to  measure  his  strength  against  Gibbons  in 
many  a  controversy  regarding  policies  of  the  Church  in 
America;  Spalding,  of  Peoria,  who  was  then  full  of  his 
great  project  of  founding  the  Catholic  University;  Kain, 
of  Wheeling,  afterward  Archbishop  of  St.  Louis;  Gross, 
of  Savannah,  soon  to  be  Archbishop  of  Oregon ;  Foley,  of 
Chicago,  close  friend  of  Gibbons  from  early  days ;  Becker, 
of  Wilmington,  Delaware,  also  bound  to  him  by  ties  oi 
personal  intimacy,  and  Fitzgerald,  of  Little  Rock, 
opponent  of  the  decree  of  Papal  infallibility  passed  by 
the  Vatican  Council  until  the  Pope  had  proclaimed  it. 
Archbishop  Williams,  of  Boston,  upholder  of  the  hands 
of  Archbishop  Gibbons  on  many  a  trying  occasion,  was 
the  senior  in  rank  at  the  ceremony.  America  then  had 
no  Apostolic  Delegate,  but  Bishop  Conroy,  of  Ardagh, 
delegate  of  the  Holy  See  to  Canada,  was  present. 

Such  a  gathering  of  leaders  of  the  Catholic  faith  in 
the  old  Cathedral  could  not  fail  to  be  inspired  by  its 
surroundings.  Bishop  Lynch,  in  his  discourse,  was  moved 
to  rehearse  in  outline  what  this  Church,  assembled  in 
the  plenitude  of  her  power,  had  done  for  society,  truth, 
virtue  and  science.  He  recalled  that  men  still  lived  who 
could  remember  when  Carroll  was  the  only  American 
Archbishop,  while  his  successor  could  now  count  ten  other 
Archbishops  and  sixty  Bishops  whose  authority  stretched 
from  ocean  to  ocean.  Never,  he  said,  had  the  Church 
in  America  been  stronger  and  truer  in  faith  nor  more 
united  for  aggressive  work  in  pursuit  of  her  mission. 
Men  were  needed  to  control  like  skilled  pilots  the  marvel- 


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ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE  185 

ous  progress  of  this  undertaking  and  it  was  a  cause  of 
congratulation  that  Baltimore  had  an  Archbishop  who 
had  already  given  promise  of  being  a  worthy  successor 
of  the  eminent  prelates  who  had  preceded  him.  Re- 
ferring to  the  fact  that  he  was  placing  upon  Archbishop 
Gibbons  the  last  pallium  bestowed  by  Pius  IX,  he  paid 
an  eloquent  tribute  to  the  long  labors  of  that  Pontiff. 

As  the  Archbishop  rose  to  reply  he  gazed,  not  like  a 
stranger  sent  into  a  new  field,  upon  the  faces  of  strangers, 
not  as  in  Wilmington  and  Richmond  upon  men  and 
women  who  had  scarcely  heard  of  him  before,  but  upon 
a  crowded  congregation  of  the  leading  people  of  Balti- 
more, many  of  whom  for  years  he  had  counted  as  his 
friends.  Here  at  last  he  was  at  home ;  here  in  this  vener- 
able church  the  greatest  work  of  his  life  could  find  ex- 
pression.   Replying  to  Bishop  Lynch,  he  said : 

"The  See  of  Baltimore  is  indeed  replete  with  historical 
interest,  whether  we  consider  its  venerable  antiquity  as 
far  as  that  term  can  be  applied  to  a  nation  as  young  as 
ours,  or  whether  we  consider  the  illustrious  line  of 
prelates  who  have  presided  over  its  destinies.  The  morn- 
ing of  Bishop  Carroll's  consecration  in  1790  brings  us 
back  to  the  dawn  of  our  American  history,  which  followed 
the  dark  and  eventful  night  of  our  American  Revolution. 
Washington  sat  in  the  Presidential  chair.  The  elder 
Adams,  Jefferson  and  Madison  were  still  in  the  full  vigor 
of  active  political  life;  the  United  States  as  then  con- 
stituted had  a  population  of  4,000,000;  the  City  of 
Baltimore,  which  now  rejoices  in  its  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  souls,  had  only  14,500;  while  the  Catholic  popu- 
lation of  the  United  States  at  that  time  may  be  estimated 
at  25,000  souls,  or  less  than  one-quarter  of  the  present 
Catholic  population  of  Baltimore. 


186  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"But  if  this  See  of  Baltimore  is  venerable  for  its 
antiquity,  it  is  still  more  conspicuous  for  that  bright  con- 
stellation of  prelates  who  diffused  their  light  over  the 
American  Church  as  well  as  over  this  diocese.  It  is  not 
necessary  that  I  should  enlarge  upon  the  greatness  of 
these  eminent  men;  for  many  of  them  were  personally 
known  to  yourselves  by  familiar  acquaintance.  .  .  . 

"Otherwise  I  might  speak  of  Bishop  Carroll,  who 
possessed  the  virtues  of  a  Christian  priest  with  the  patri- 
otism of  an  American  citizen,  I  might  speak  of  a  Neale 
'whose  life  was  hidden  with  Christ  in  God' ;  of  a  Mare- 
chal,  who  united  in  his  person  the  refined  manners  of  a 
French  gentleman  with  the  sturdy  virtues  of  a  pioneer 
prelate;  of  a  Whitfield,  who  expended  a  fortune  in  the 
promotion  of  piety  and  devotion;  of  the  accomplished 
Eccleston,  who  presided  with  equal  grace  and  dignity  in 
the  professor's  chair,  on  this  throne  and  at  the  council 
of  Bishops ;  of  a  Kenrick,  whose  praise  is  in  the  churches, 
and  who  not  only  adorned  this  See  by  his  virtues  but  also, 
I  might  say,  illuminated  all  Christendom  by  his  vast 
learning. 

"I  might  speak  of  a  Spalding,  whose  paternal  face  is 
to  this  day  stamped  upon  your  memories  and  affections,^ 
whose  paternal  rule  I  myself  had  the  privilege  of  experi-, 
encing  and  whose  very  name  does  not  fail,  even  at  this 
day,  to  evoke  feelings  of  heartfelt  emotion ;  of  a  Bayley 
I  can  simply  say  that  those  who  knew  him  best  loved  him 
most.  His  was  a  soul  of  honor.  He  never  hesitated  to 
make  any  sacrifice  when  God's  will  and  his  own  con- 
science demanded." 

The  Archbishop  could  not  forego  the  expression  in 
public  of  the  modest  doubts  of  his  own  capacity  which 
he  had  recorded  in  his  letter  to  Archbishop  Bayley  when 
the  appointment  to  Baltimore  was  first  offered  to  him. 
All  who  knew  him  felt  that  his  words  bore  the  stamp 


ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE  187 

of  deep  sincerity  when  he  alluded  to  the  "alarm"  which 
he  felt  when  called  to  that  important  See,  because  he 
was  to  take  up  the  lines  fallen  from  the  hands  of  the 
strong  man  who  had  preceded  him.  If  he  was  discour- 
aged, he  said,  by  the  sense  of  the  weight  of  the  obliga- 
tions resting  upon  him  he  had  also,  thanks  to  God,  great 
grounds  of  hope  and  confidence,  and  this  confidence  was 
in  the  clergy  of  the  diocese.  He  could  say  of  them  as 
he  had  said  of  the  priests  of  Richmond,  that  they  en- 
joyed an  honored  reputation  among  the  clergy  of  the 
country. 

He  wished  to  say  that  he  confided  in  his  brethren  of 
the  regular  and  secular  clergy.  They  would  labor  to- 
gether in  promoting  the  Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  in 
vindicating  the  claims  of  the  Apostolic  See  and  in  foster- 
ing faith,  charity,  religion,  piety  and  pure  patriotism, 
which  would  flourish  still  more  in  the  favored  State  of 
Maryland,  "the  land  of  sanctuary  and  the  asylum  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty."  He  signalized  his  grasp  of 
local  circumstances  in  the  State  by  giving  an  especial 
expression  of  his  confidence  in  the  Jesuits,  the  "glorious 
pioneers  of  the  Cross  in  this  region."  In  conclusion  the 
new  Archbishop  asked  his  hearers  to  pray  for  the  Pontiff 
whose  soul  had  just  been  released  from  the  bonds  of 
earth.^® 

"  Catholic  Mirror,  February  i6,  1878. 


CHAPTER  IX 
PRELATE  OF  THE  PEOPLE 

Non-Catholics  vied  with  Catholics  in  applauding  the 
selection  of  Gibbons  for  the  See  of  Baltimore.  He  was 
the  first  native  of  the  city  to  fill  the  archbishopric,  whose 
associations,  more  than  those  of  any  other  in  America, 
were  interwoven  with  the  birth  of  religious  liberty  and 
of  the  Catholic  faith  and  Hierarchy  among  English 
speaking  people  on  the  continent. 

The  pioneer  days  of  North  Carolina  were  but  a 
memory  now.  His  task  was  to  strengthen  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Church  in  the  oldest  diocese  of  America;  to 
multiply  her  efforts  in  the  city  where  she  had  found  her 
most  congenial  home.  At  once  he  became  a  leading 
figure  in  the  community,  apart  from  his  ecclesiastical 
office.  It  had  not  been  the  fashion  for  Catholic  Arch- 
bishops, nor,  indeed,  for  Bishops  of  any  other  faith,  to 
take  part  in  the  complex  activities  of  life  in  a  modem 
American  city.  They  had  rather  sought  seclusion  and 
had  regarded  the  boundary  of  ecclesiastical  duty  as  one 
beyond  which  they  ought  not  to  trespass.  Mingling  with 
the  world  had  seemed  to  them  to  be  a  contamination  or 
a  compromise  with  the  material  life. 

Not  so  with  Archbishop  Gibbons.     He  was  among 

and  of  the  people.    His  predecessors  in  the  See  had  been 

scarcely  known  to  non-Catholics.     He  became  so  well- 

188 


PRELATE  OF  THE  PEOPLE  189 

known  that  in  a  short  time  he  was  as  familiar  to  them 
and  perhaps  as  much  beloved  by  them  as  by  Catholics. 
On  one  occasion,  when  he  was  passing  through  the  streets 
with  a  visitor,  they  came  to  the  door  of  a  beautiful 
church  from  which  a  large  congregation  was  beginning 
to  emerge.  Archbishop  Gibbons  was  saluted  so  often, 
and  gave  so  many  salutes  in  return,  that  his  companion 
remarked : 

"You  seem  to  be  well  acquainted  in  this  parish'?" 

"Ah!"  he  replied.  "These  are  our  Episcopalian 
friends." 

He  felt  from  the  beginning  that  the  lingering  trace  of 
distrust  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  Hierarchy  by  cer- 
tain elements  of  the  people  was  due  in  large  part  to  a 
lack  of  understanding.  One  of  his  great  purposes  was 
to  remove  this  cloud,  to  bring  out  the  Church  into  the 
brilliant  light  of  public  observation  among  Americans, 
that  all  might  see  her  mission  and  the  mission  of  her 
priesthood  as  being  a  spiritual  one.  He  yielded  to  none 
in  his  devotion  to  American  institutions  and  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  and  he  felt  that  the  influence 
of  the  Church  was  for  the  perpetuity  of  law  and  order 
and  constituted  authority.  A  student  of  history,  an  in- 
tense admirer  of  those  great  figures  in  American  life  who 
had  erected  a  nation  of  unexampled  population  and  pros- 
perity where  once  the  Indian  had  roamed  through  the 
forest  or  pushed  his  canoe  along  the  stream,  he  was  fond 
of  recalling  that  Catholics  had  been  among  the  first  of 
the  pioneers  who  had  helped  to  make  the  United  States 
what  it  is. 

In  his  own  Maryland  the  faith  which  he  held  had 


190  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

been  inseparably  linked  with  the  origin  of  the  English 
province  founded  by  the  Calverts  on  the  banks  of  the 
Potomac  and  the  Chesapeake.  Jesuits  had  borne  aloft 
the  Cross  to  light  the  pathway  of  civilization  westward, 
along  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  and  down  to  the 
Gulf,  near  the  shores  of  which  part  of  his  youth  had 
been  spent. ^  These  men  of  God  had  left  enduring 
memorials  of  their  heroic  sacrifices  in  the  early  days. 

In  the  Revolution,  Catholics  had  been  eminent  in  the 
halls  of  statesmanship  and  on  the  field  of  battle.  None 
craved  more  than  they  the  full  freedom  of  religion  and 
civil  government  which  under  Washington  had  been 
won  for  the  fringe  of  struggling  colonies  planted  by  ad- 
venturous Englishmen.  They  had  felt  far  more  than 
Protestants  the  restraints  of  alien  rule. 

Almost  simultaneous  with  the  establishment  of  the  new 
nation  had  come  the  consecration  of  Carroll  to  found 
the  Hierarchy  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United 
States.  The  Church  had  grown  and  prospered  as  the 
nation  had  become  stronger.  In  every  war  and  every 
time  of  stress  her  members  had  been  one  with  their  Prot- 
estant brethren  in  their  sterling  examples  of  patriotism 
and  devotion  to  the  common  country. 

Still,  in  Baltimore,  as  elsewhere,  there  was  no  deny- 
ing that  some  distrust  of  Catholics  remained.  It  had  been 
too  deep-seated  a  feeling  to  be  erased  in  less  than  a  cen- 
tury. The  keynote  of  Gibbons'  attitude  was  liberality. 
As  a  churchman,  none  was  more  devoted  to  his  Church; 

*  Hughes,  History  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  North  America,  Vol.  II, 
p.  255. 


PRELATE  OF  THE  PEOPLE  191 

as  an  American,  it  was  soon  evident,  none  was  more 
devoted  to  America. 

His  strong  nature  was  upheld  by  a  deep  and  simple 
faith  that  Providence  directly  guides  the  affairs  of  men; 
and  if  his  life  be  scanned  for  a  striking  instance  to  con- 
firm this  view,  surely  none  could  have  been  more  impres- 
sive than  the  circumstance  that  the  month  in  which  he 
received  the  pallium  was  marked  also  by  the  elevation 
to  the  Papacy  of  Leo  XIII,  with  whose  career  his  own 
was  to  be  so  closely  linked.  These  two  men  of  advanced 
and  liberal  ideas,  each  a  Catholic  of  Catholics  and  at 
the  same  time  breathing  the  atmosphere  of  the  times, 
alert,  progressive,  knowing  how  to  "take  occasion  by  the 
hand,"  labored  concurrently  in  the  most  important 
periods  of  their  careers.  With  a  less  sympathetic  Pontiff 
the  work  of  Gibbons  would  have  been  impossible;  and 
Leo  did  not  hesitate  to  say  again  and  again  that  the 
encouragement  and  active  help  which  he  received  from 
the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  formed  one  of  the  potent 
influences  that  sustained  him  amid  the  hostility  and  mis- 
understanding with  which  he  was  often  beset. 

A  memorandum  in  the  Archbishop's  journal  for  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1878,  covers  the  elevation  of  Leo  and  also  a 
circumstance  which  left  the  way  open  for  the  second 
American  Cardinal  to  be  the  first  from  this  country  to 
take  part  in  the  election  of  a  Pope.     He  wrote : 

"Feb.  20.  I  received  from  the  Associated  Press  a 
telegram  announcing  the  election  of  Cardinal  Pecci  as 
Supreme  Pontiff  under  the  name  of  Leo  XIII  after  the 
third  ballot.  .  .  .  Cardinal  McCloskey  did  not  arrive 


192  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

in  time  for  the  conclave,  having  arrived  in  Queenstown 
from  New  York  on  the  i8th. 

"March  i.  I  sent  the  Holy  Father  a  letter  of  con- 
gratulation." 

Gibbons'  rare  faculty  of  judging  men  was  again  in 
evidence  soon.  Dr.  Dubreul,  the  successor  of  the  Arch- 
bishop's teacher,  the  Rev.  Frangois  L' Homme,  as 
superior  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  died,  and  for  the 
vacancy  he  recommended  the  Rev.  Alphonse  L.  Magnien 
who,  like  Bishop  Keane,  exemplified  Gibbons'  favorite 
type  of  a  "rare  combination  of  head  and  heart."  Dr. 
Magnien  was  one  of  the  numerous  body  of  men  occupy- 
ing the  lesser  executive  positions  in  the  Catholic  Church 
who,  if  they  had  devoted  their  talents  to  material  pur- 
suits, would  be  ranked  as  leaders  of  exceptional  emi- 
nence. His  influence  upon  the  standards  of  the  Ameri- 
can priesthood  was  broad  and  lasting.  Following  are 
some  entries  in  the  Archbishop's  journal  bearing  on  this 
change : 

"April  23  [1878].  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Dubreul,  Vicar 
General  of  the  diocese  and  superior  of  the  seminary,  was 
buried  to-day  within  the  seminary  grounds,  having  died 
on  Saturday  last,  the  20th  (Easter  Saturday).  A  very 
large  number  of  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  and  some  from 
other  dioceses,  including  Bishop  Shanahan,  were  present. 
I  celebrated  the  Mass  and  Rt,  Rev.  J.  J.  Keane,  Bishop- 
elect  of  Richmond,  preached  an  appropriate  discourse. 
Dr.  Dubreul  came  to  this  country  in  1850  and  in  i860 
succeeded  Rev.  Father  L'Homme  as  Superior  of  the  Semi- 
nary. His  death  is  a  great  loss  to  the  Seminary,  to 
the  diocese  and  to  me.     R.  I.  P. 


PRELATE  OF  THE  PEOPLE  193 

"May  10.  I  appointed  Rev.  Father  McColgan  Vicar 
General  in  place  of  Dr.  Dubreul,  deceased. 

"June  5.  I  wrote  to  the  Superior  General  of  the 
Sulpicians  in  Paris  advising  the  election  of  Father 
Magnien  as  superior  of  the  seminary  in  Baltimore.  The 
superior  general  asked  me  to  give  my  opinion  on  the 
subject." 

Father  Magnien  was  essentially  a  practical  man  with 
a  clear  vision  and  sound  judgment;  unshaken  on  ques- 
tions of  principle,  but  still  adapting  himself  to  circum- 
stances with  rare  tact.  Gibbons  and  he  were  soon  in  full 
accord  on  the  ideals  of  the  priesthood  and  the  methods 
by  which  these  might  be  realized  through  the  training 
at  St.  Mary's,  the  mother  of  so  many  devoted  "ambassa- 
dors of  Christ."  The  settled  purpose  of  both  was  to 
develop  men  of  God  and  at  the  same  time  more  practical 
men,  who  would  know  how  to  reach  out  widely  with 
strong  personal  appeal  in  the  communities  which  they 
served. 

Magnien  fully  shared  the  view  of  the  Archbishop  that 
it  was  necessary  for  priests  to  be  more  in  touch  with  the 
times  and  that  they  must  accomplish  this  without  in 
the  least  detracting  from  the  sacred  character  of  their 
calling.  They  felt  that  priests  must  have  a  redoubled 
interest  in  the  temporal  as  well  as  in  the  spiritual  affairs 
of  their  flocks  and  must  be  able  to  meet  them  out  of 
church  as  well  as  at  the  altar  and  in  the  confessional. 
They  wished  them  to  know  the  laws,  the  institutions, 
the  spirit  of  their  country;  to  share  with  liberal  minds 
and  active  help  in  movements  for  social  betterment,  for 
economic  progress,  for  anything  that  would  lift  men. 


194.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

There  is  a  great  gap  between  this  ideal  which  they  did 
so  much  to  set  before  American  priests  and  the  sensation- 
monger  who  clutches  at  merely  transient  events  as  mate- 
rial for  constructing  something  to  draw  a  congregation, 
which  might  be  repelled  by  his  shallowness  and  bigotry 
if  he  trod  the  even  path  of  the  Gospel. 

For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  Dr.  Magnien 
exercised  a  deep  influence  upon  the  Church  in  America. 
He  was  the  constant  companion  and  adviser  of  the  head 
of  the  See  of  Baltimore  during  that  long  period,  being 
one  of  a  small  body  of  men  on  the  order  of  a  cabinet 
of  state  whom  the  Archbishop  was  in  the  habit  of  con- 
sulting. At  the  death  of  Magnien  in  December,  1902, 
the  Archbishop,  who  had  then  long  been  a  Cardinal,  wrote 
the  preface  for  a  memorial  volume  on  the  priest  and 
teacher  in  which  he  said  that  Magnien  had  been  "the 
half  of  my  soul."    He  paid  his  tribute  thus: 

"For  five  and  twenty  years  I  was  associated  with  Dr. 
Magnien  by  the  ties  of  unbroken  friendship  and  of  al- 
most daily  intercourse.  .  .  .  He  had  the  happy  faculty 
of  grasping  the  salient  points  of  a  question  with  intuitive 
vision.  His  judgment  of  men  and  measures  was  rarely 
at  fault.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  giving  me  his  estimate 
of  the  ethical  and  moral  standards  and  characteristic 
traits  of  the  newly  ordained  priests ;  he  would  even  fore- 
shadow their  future  careers  as  developed  in  the  labors  of 
the  ministry.  The  subsequent  lives  of  these  clerg5anen 
usually  verified  the  forecasts  of  the  sagacious  observer. 
...  I  have  been  so  accustomed  to  consult  the  venerable 
abbe  on  important  questions  and  to  lean  upon  him  in 
every  emergency  that  his  death  is  a  rude  shock  to  me 


PRELATE  OF  THE  PEOPLE  195 

and  I  feel  as  if  I  had  lost  a  right  arm.    He  was,  indeed, 
the  half  of  my  soul."  ^ 

Archbishop  Gibbons,  with  his  zest  for  the  picturesque 
and  the  historic,  thoroughly  enjoyed  a  group  of  experi- 
ences in  southern  Maryland  which  come  to  every  suc- 
cessor of  Carroll.  In  the  counties  of  that  part  of  the 
State,  whose  traditions  reach  far  back,  there  is  an  aspect 
of  religious  life  which  carries  a  trace  of  the  times  when 
baronial  estates  were  set  up  in  the  lofty  forests  and  on 
the  brilliant  green  plains  of  that  favored  region  under 
the  aegis  of  the  lords  proprietor,  whose  powers,  secured 
by  charter,  made  them  viceroys  of  the  wilderness.^  Upon 
their  ample  acres  the  priest  was  a  man  of  power  and 
leadership  second  only  to  the  master  of  the  manor,  and 
the  Sunday  Mass  in  the  church  or  chapel  was  the  prin- 
cipal social  as  well  as  religious  event  of  the  week. 

The  Calverts  themselves  were  rural  barons  and  in 
the  earlier  stages  of  their  colonial  project  they  looked 
to  a  reproduction  of  their  own  social  life  in  the  new 
commonwealth  which  they  planted.  The  unexpectedly 
independent  course  of  the  early  assemblies  at  St.  Mary's 
interfered  with  a  full  realization  of  this  aim;  but  it  was 
true  that,  despite  the  violence  of  the  Cromwellian  period 
and  the  grievous  discriminations  in  religion  which  fol- 
lowed the  accession  of  William  III,  Maryland  was  the 
only  colony  in  English  speaking  America  in  which 
wealthy  Catholics  founded  large  estates  and  handed  them 
down  from  father  to  son.* 

'  Very  Rev.  A.  L.  Magnien,  a  Memorial,  pp,  5-8. 

*  Charter  of  Maryland,  Scharf,  Vol.  I,  pp.  58,  59. 

*  Burton,  Life  and  Times  of  Bishop  Chaloner,  Vol.  II,  pp.  128,  130. 


196  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

In  the  rural  churches  it  was  and  still  is  a  novel  sight 
when  the  cavalcade  of  gentry  assembles  for  High  Mass 
and  the  general  interchange  of  social  amenities.  Slaves 
as  well  as  masters  went  to  the  services  before  the  Civil 
War,  the  negroes  occupying  seats  in  galleries  set  apart 
for  them  and  still  reserved,  in  some  cases,  for  their 
emancipated  descendants.  The  blacks  were  instructed 
and  trained  with  patient  persistence  in  the  practises  of 
the  Catholic  faith,  whose  ministrations  contributed  to 
securing  good  treatment  for  them  and  making  them  con- 
tented with  their  lot.  It  was  a  common  saying  that  "a 
Catholic  negro  is  a  good  negro."  The  confession  and 
penance,  as  well  as  the  sacred  character  which  they  will- 
ingly acknowledged  in  the  priesthood,  exercised  a  power- 
ful restraining  influence  upon  them.  While  the  Church 
in  no  sense  sympathized  with  slavery  as  an  institution, 
submission  to  constituted  authority  was  taught  to  the 
negro,  and  the  responsibility  of  exercising  authority  with 
mildness  and  justice  was  impressed  upon  the  master. 

Nature  and  training  had  made  Gibbons  an  apostle 
who  delighted  in  going  from  one  community  to  another, 
inspiring  pastors  and  flocks  with  new  zeal  in  the  cause 
of  religion,  buying  a  lot  for  a  church  here,  aiding  a  build- 
ing fund  there,  preaching,  confirming  and  meeting  the 
people  in  their  homes.  In  Southern  Maryland  that  part 
of  his  disposition  found  full  scope.  He  wrote  in  his 
journal: 

"May  12  [1878].  Sunday;  I  administered  con- 
firmation and  preached  at  White  Marsh  Church,  Prince 
George's  County,  having  arrived  the  evening  before  by 


PRELATE  OF  THE  PEOPLE  197 

(the)  Pope's  Creek  Road  ^  from  Calvert  Station  ^  at  4 
p.  M.  The  nearest  station  to  White  Marsh  is  CoUington, 
distant  about  two  and  a  half  miles.  The  church  at 
White  Marsh  (or  rather  the  mission)  is  one  of  the  oldest 
in  the  State  and  country.  Sunday  evening  I  paid  a  visit 
by  invitation  to  Governor  Bowie,  who  lives  about  four 
miles  off." 

After  this  visitation  the  Archbishop  returned  to  Balti- 
more, charmed  with  the  hospitality  which  he  had  received 
and  which  at  that  time  preserved  almost  completely  the 
atmosphere  of  the  ante-bellum  South.  He  soon  set  out 
again  for  the  same  region,  as  his  journal  shows: 

"June  7.  I  reached  St.  Inigoes,  St.  Mary's  County, 
with  Father  Curtis,  with  a  view  of  administering  con- 
firmation throughout  the  county.  We  drove  to  the  site 
of  old  St.  Mary's  town,  about  six  miles  distant,  which 
was  the  original  seat  of  government  of  the  Maryland 
colony.  St.  Inigoes  is  one  of  the  oldest  if  not  the  oldest 
church  in  the  country,  or  rather  the  present  church  is 
built  near  the  site  of  the  oldest  church.  The  place  is 
replete  with  sacred  traditions.  Across  the  St.  Mary's 
River  is  Rosecroft,  illustrated  by  the  pen  of  J.  P.  Ken- 
nedy in  his  'Rob  of  the  Bowl,'  "^  which  I  can  see  from 
the  porch  of  this  house  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  where  I  am 
staying. 

"9.  I  preached  and  confirmed  at  St.  Inigoes  sixty- 
four  persons,  of  whom  three  were  converts.  The  con- 
gregation was  very  large  and  the  weather  delightful. 

"10.  An  entertainment  was  given  today  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  congregation,  the  proceeds  being  devoted  to 

"Railroad. 

*  Baltimore.  .  , 

'A   novel   which  was  widely   read  in  the  middle   of   the  nmeteentn 

century. 


198  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

the  new  Church  of  St.  Michael,  now  in  course  of  con- 
struction near  Point  Lookout.^  I  addressed  the  assem- 
blage before  the  dinner,  which  was  followed  by  an  im- 
promptu tournament."  ^ 

Facilities  of  transportation  in  Southern  Maryland  were 
then  scanty  and  the  Archbishop  did  not  lack  adventure 
in  his  journey.  He  thus  chronicled  one  of  his  experi- 
ences : 

"June  12.  After  spending  last  night  at  Mrs.  Keys* 
we  went  to  St.  George's,  where  I  preached  and  confirmed 
thirty,  including  six  converts.  (The)  same  evening  we 
drove  to  Mr.  Greenwell's  at  Lady's  Chapel,  eight  miles 
distant.  On  our  way  we  had  an  adventure.  One  of  the 
horses  harnessed  to  the  carriage  could  be  induced  only 
with  the  greatest  difficulty  to  ascend  the  hills.  Finally 
we  came  to  a  creek  about  four  hundred  feet  wide.  When 
the  carriage  reached  the  centre  of  the  creek  he  obstinately 
refused  to  move.  After  patiently  sitting  in  the  carriage 
for  an  hour  hoping  for  something  to  turn  up  we  saw  a 
man  at  a  distance  whom  we  hailed  and  who  procured 
us  a  boat  in  which  Father  Curtis  and  myself  came  ashore. 
The  refractory  horse  was  unharnessed  in  the  water  and 
the  carriage  drawn  ashore.  Our  young  driver  was  very 
exultant  because  he  did  not  once  swear  during  the  long 
ordeal." 

On  July  1  of  the  same  year  the  Archbishop  was  the 
guest  of  Governor  Carroll  at  Carroll  Manor,  in  Howard 
County,   on  which  estate,   as  a  young  student   at   St. 

•in  St.  Mary's  County. 

'Southern  Maryland  is  one  of  the  few  districts  in  the  United  States 
where  large  public  entertainments  of  a  novel  character  called  tourna- 
ments are  still  given.  The  knights,  dressed  gaily  in  bright  colors,  tilf 
with  long  and  sharply  pointed  lances  at  rings  suspended  from  post* 
Some  of  the  customs  of  medieval  chivalry  survive  in  these  entertain- 
ments. 


PRELATE  OF  THE  PEOPLE  199 

Charles'  College,  near-by,  he  had  tramped  the  leafy- 
roads  for  diversion  in  the  intervals  of  his  preparation  for 
the  priesthood.  He  attended  on  that  occasion  the  first 
commencement  of  his  alma  mater  since  his  elevation  to 
the  archbishopric. 


CHAPTER  X 
BROADENING  PUBLIC  LIFE 

Washington  being  in  the  diocese  of  Baltimore,  Gib- 
bons made  several  visitations  there  soon  after  he 
became  Archbishop.  The  inclusion  of  the  National  Cap- 
ital in  the  See  had  seemed  to  the  other  Archbishops  since 
Carroll  to  impose  the  necessity  of  vigilance  in  preserving 
aloofness  from  public  affairs.  But  Gibbons  had  more 
than  a  diocesan  mind,  even  more  than  a  national  mind. 
His  was  a  world  mind  and  at  last  it  could  begin  to  reach 
out  fully  when  he  had  been  installed  in  a  post  of  high 
authority.  His  natural  breadth  of  ideas  had  found 
scope  in  the  Second  Plenary  Council  and  the  Vatican 
Council,  though  their  expression  on  those  occasions  had 
been  restricted  on  account  of  his  youth.  In  North  Caro- 
lina and  Virginia  circumstances  had  imposed  a  further 
restraint  upon  him.  Now  as  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  he 
was  free  to  stand  revealed  as  his  true  self. 

His  relations  with  Presidents  of  the  United  States 
soon  began  through  natural  processes.  The  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore  is  a  member  of  important  boards  and 
bureaus  of  the  Church  and  Gibbons  became  greatly  in- 
terested in  the  work  of  one  of  these  which  has  to  do  with 
missions  among  the  Indians.  This  was  the  cause  which 
brought  him  in  contact  with  Hayes  at  the  White  House 

in  the  same  year  in  which  he  received  the  pallium;  and 

200 


BROADENING  PUBLIC  LIFE  201 

Admiral  Ammen,  a  retired  naval  officer,  whose  home 
was  in  Maryland  not  far  from  Washington,  was  the 
means  of  establishing  the  contact.  Gibbons  wrote  in 
his  journal: 

"Jan.  3  [1878].  I  visited  by  invitation  Admiral 
Ammen,  of  Ammendale,  thirteen  miles  from  Washington, 
with  a  view  of  inspecting  a  lot  of  five  acres  which  he 
proposes  to  donate  for  a  church.  The  Admiral  has  an 
interesting  family  of  four  children  and  is  a  convert.  He 
is  a  particular  friend  of  ex-President  Grant,  from  whom 
he  had  just  received  an  affectionate  letter  (from  Europe) 
in  which  he  playfully  referred  to  the  fact  that  the  Ad- 
miral had  saved  his  (the  President's)  life  from  drowning 
when  both  were  lads. 

"Aug.  14.  I  wrote  to  Admiral  Ammen  in  reply  to  a 
letter  from  him  stating  that  the  President  would  be 
pleased  to  see  me  in  regard  to  the  Catholic  Indians.  The 
President  acknowledged  the  superiority  of  the  Catholic 
missionaries  over  all  others  in  benefitting  the  Indians." 

The  company  of  the  popular  and  patriotic  Archbishop 
was  sought  by  Catholics  of  prominence  in  Washington  at 
dinner  parties,  at  which  he  met  many  of  the  leaders  in 
all  departments  of  the  Government.  He  continued  to 
attend  these  dinners  at  intervals  throughout  his  life  and 
soon  acquired  an  exceptional  acquaintance  among  influ- 
ential men  at  the  capital.  The  first  of  the  entertain- 
ments of  that  kind  at  which  he  was  present  was  held  at 
the  house  of  a  New  York  Senator  early  in  1878.  The 
Archbishop  thus  noted  it : 

"March  26.  On  Monday  (the)  25th,  I  dined  at  U.  S. 
Senator  Kernan's  (in  Washington)  with  himself  and 
family.  Senators  Bayard,  Johnston,  of  Virginia,  and 
Stephenson,  of  Kentucky,  and  Mr.  R.  T.  Marriott," 


202  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

On  the  same  day  he  wrote: 

"Among  those  that  I  confirmed  in  Georgetown  was  the 
widow  of  President  Tyler." 

He  met  President  Hayes  on  subsequent  occasions,  as 
shown  by  this  paragraph  in  his  journal: 

"July  6  [1879].  I  wrote  to  Cardinal  Simeoni  of 
the  good  feeling  which  now  exists  between  the  civil 
authorities  and  the  Church,  manifested  by  the  President 
and  cabinet  attending  our  college  commencement,  by  the 
Governor  doing  likewise  and  by  the  lately  enacted  law 
remitting  to  a  great  extent  the  tax  on  church  property." 

In  common  with  all  Americans,  Archbishop  Gibbons 
felt  the  deep  shock  when  President  Garfield  was  shot  and 
fatally  wounded  by  an  assassin  July  2,  1881.  He 
promptly  issued  a  circular  letter  to  the  clergy  of  the 
diocese  expressing  his  horror  at  the  deed  and  directing 
prayers  for  the  President's  recovery.    The  circular  read:^ 

"ARCHBISHOP'S  HOUSE, 

"Baltimore,  July  5,  1881. 
"Rev.  and  dear  Sir: — 

"You  in  common  with  all  others  have  heard  with 
amazement  and  horror  of  the  late  attempted  assassina- 
tion of  His  Excellency  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  scarcely  possible  to  imagine  a  deed  more  appalling 
to  men  or  more  iniquitous  before  God ;  for  if  it  is  such  a 
crime  to  slay  even  a  private  citizen,  what  an  enormity  it 
is  to  attempt  the  death  of  one  who,  while  representing  the 
whole  nation,  is  also  as  to  matters  temporal  the  highest 
vice-gerent  of  God  himself  in  the  land*?  And  the  act  of 
the  assassin  is  the  more  heinous  since  he  had  neither  a 

*  Archiepiscopal    archives   preserved   in   the  Baltimore   Cathedral;    re- 
ferred to  on  subsequent  pages  as  Cathedral  archives,  Baltimore. 


BROADENING  PUBLIC  LIFE  203 

private  grievance  to  avenge  nor  the  semblance  of  a  public 
wrong  to  redress. 

"Our  detestation  of  the  wretch  who  has  stricken  down 
our  head  is  yet  increased  when  we  add  to  the  official  dig- 
nity of  the  sufferer  his  accessibility  and  affability  to  all 
and  his  committing,  like  all  his  predecessors,  his  personal 
safety  entirely  to  the  good  will  and  good  sense  of  those 
over  whom  he  presides.  Well  may  we  stand  aghast  when 
in  this  crime  we  see  the  mischief  of  which  a  single  in- 
dividual is  capable  when  he  has  once  ceased  to  fear  God, 
to  value  man  and  to  dread  the  consequences  of  giving  free 
scope  to  his  own  passions. 

"In  the  face,  then,  of  this  most  hideous  deed,  we  are 
called  upon  to  express  our  loathing  of  the  crime  and  our. 
deep  sympathy  for  him  whom  this  crime  has  placed  in 
such  great  suffering  and  such  imminent  peril.  For  while 
the  Catholic  Church  is  happily  above  all  parties  and  is. 
far  from  the  wish  to  take  to  herself  the  decision  of  the 
very  transient  and  as  a  rule  not  very  momentous  ques- 
tions as  to  which  these  parties  are  at  issue,  yet  none  more 
than  the  Catholic  Church  inculcates  respect  for  every 
duly  constituted  authority  or  more  reprobates  or  threatens 
everything  by  which  such  authority  is  assailed. 

"You  will,  therefore,  with  all  the  power  at  your  com- 
mand, urge  your  people  to  pray  during  Mass  and  at  other 
times  for  the  recovery  of  his  Excellency  and  on  Sunday 
next,  should  he  then  still  survive,  you  will  say  in  his 
behalf,  before  or  after  Mass  and  together  with  all  your 
people,  the  Litany  of  the  Saints,  as  at  once  entreating 
God  to  spare  his  life  and  also  as  making  an  act  of  expia- 
tion for  a  crime  which  pertains  to  us  as  a  nation  and  not 
only  concerns  but  tarnishes  us  all. 

"Very  faithfully, 

"Your  servant  in  Christ 

"James, 
"Archbishop  of  Baltimore." 


204  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  Archbishop  instructed  his  secretary,  Father  Curtis, 
to  send  to  Mrs.  Garfield  a  copy  of  the  circular  with  the 
following  note : 

"To  Mrs.  James  A.  Garfield. 

"Madam  : 

"I  am  instructed  by  his  Grace,  the  Archbishop  of  Balti- 
more, to  transmit  to  you  the  accompanying  circular  ad- 
dressed by  him  to  the  clergy  of  his  diocese  and  at  the 
same  time  to  express  to  you  his  profound  sympathy  with 
you  in  the  sore  affliction  which  has  so  suddenly  and  so 
unrighteously  befallen  you. 

"In  assuring  you  of  his  sympathy  he  speaks  not  for 
himself  only,  but  for  all  Catholics.  We  all  pray  that 
God  may  support  you  in  your  suspense  and  in  due  time 
give  relief  to  you  and  to  the  whole  nation  in  his  Ex- 
cellency's recovery. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  madam,  with  great  respect, 
"Your  faithful  servant  in  Christ, 

"A.  A.  Curtis, 
"Secretary  to  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  of  Baltimore." 

Further  developments  are  indicated  thus  in  the  Arch- 
bishop's journal: 

"July  5  [1881].  The  President,  on  being  informed 
that  I  have  issued  the  circular,  said  to  Col.  Rockwell: 
'Bless  the  good  will  of  the  people' ;  and  Mrs.  Garfield  in 
a  note  to  Mrs.  Admiral  Dahlgren,  expressed  her  thanks 
and  promised  to  show  the  circular  to  the  President  on 
his  recovery. 

"August  1.  I  wrote  to  Cardinal  Simeoni  an  account 
of  the  attempted  assassination,  referring  to  the  letters 
of  the  American  Bishops  on  the  subject  and  the  gratitude 
for  the  Catholic  sympathy  and  prayers." 


BROADENING  PUBLIC  LIFE  205 

After  the  death  of  President  Garfield  on  September 
19,  the  Archbishop  took  occasion  in  a  sermon  in  the  Balti- 
more Cathedral  to  answer  the  doubts  as  to  the  efficacy  of 
prayer  which  had  been  raised  in  the  minds  of  some  by  the 
fatal  ending  of  the  President's  illness  despite  the  united 
petitions  of  the  nation.  This  sermon  attracted  marked 
attention,  not  only  on  account  of  the  tension  of  the  times, 
but  on  account  of  its  general  application  and  the  source 
from  which  it  came.  Following  are  extracts  which  illus- 
trate the  tenor  of  it : 

"Has  not  the  death  of  the  President,  notwithstanding 
the  prayers  that  were  offered  for  his  recovery,  tempted 
some  of  you  to  doubt  the  efficacy  of  prayer?  Will  not 
some  one  say  in  his  heart,  as  a  certain  person  said  to  me : 
'I  have  prayed  for  the  life  of  the  President  and  prayed 
in  vain;  my  family  prayed  for  him;  this  congregation 
prayed  for  him;  the  City  of  Baltimore  prayed  for  him; 
the  State  prayed  for  him ;  the  nation  prayed  for  him  and 
prayed  in  vain.  How  can  you  reconcile  the  rejection  of 
our  prayers  with  the  promise  of  our  Lord  when  He  says 
'Whatsoever  you  shall  ask  the  Father  in  my  name  shall 
be  granted  unto  you'? 

"You  see  I  put  the  objection  as  strongly  as  possible. 
I  answer,  notwithstanding  your  objection,  that  these 
words  of  our  Savior  are  most  true:  'Ask  and  you  shall 
receive;  seek  and  you  shall  find;  knock  and  it  shall  be 
opened  unto  you.'  No  good  prayer  ever  goes  unanswered. 
If  a  single  drop  of  water  is  never  unhallowed,  still  less  is 
the  smallest  prayer  uttered  in  vain  that  ascends  to  the 
throne  of  Grace. 

"And  now  in  reply  I  affirm  that  God  answers  our 
prayers  in  one  of  two  ways — either  directly  or  indirectly. 
Sometimes  he  grants  us  the  direct  and  specified  objects 


206  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of  our  petitions:  sometimes  he  denies  us  the  direct  object 
of  our  prayers  but  grants  us  something  equivalent  or  even 
better  than  we  ask  for.  Just  as  a  prudent  father  with- 
holds from  his  child  a  dangerous  toy  and  gives  him  in- 
stead something  harmless  and  useful,  so  our  heavenly 
Father  gives  us  what  to  him  seems  best  and  our  wisdom 
is  but  folly  compared  to  the  infinite  wisdom  of  God. 

''First:  In  regard  to  the  President,  if  God  in  re- 
sponse to  your  prayers  did  not  save  his  life  he  has  done 
more.  He  has  saved  the  life  and  preserved  the  peace  of 
the  nation.  And  the  life  of  the  nation  is  of  more  value 
than  the  life  of  any  individual. 

''Second:  He  was  pleased  to  prolong  his  life  for 
nearly  three  months  after  he  received  the  fatal  wound. 
Had  he  died  immediately  from  the  wound,  what  terrible 
consequences  might  have  followed  I  So  intense  at  the 
moment  was  public  feeling,  so  strong  (though  most  im- 
just)  was  the  suspicion  aroused  against  the  members  of  a 
certain  political  party,  so  bitter  was  the  animosity  engen- 
dered by  these  suspicions  that  if  the  President  had  imme- 
diately died  it  needed  but  a  spark  to  ignite  the  flame.  The 
first  assassination  might  have  been  followed  by  others  and 
anarchy  and  confusion  and  sedition  might  have  reigned 
supreme  for  a  time.  But  God  mercifully  spared  his  life 
till  the  excitement  subsided,  when  cool  reason  would 
regain  her  throne  and  men  could  plainly  see  that  the 
assassination  was  the  work  of  one  man  alone,  having  no 
collusion  with  anybody  else. 

"Third:  As  another  fruit  of  our  prayers,  God  has  in- 
spired the  nation  with  a  greater  abhorrence  of  assassina- 
tion and  a  greater  reverence  for  the  Chief  Magistrate  of 
the  country. 

"Fourth:  Again,  as  another  fruit  of  our  prayers  dur- 
ing the  terrible  ordeal  through  which  we  have  passed, 
party  spirit  has  yielded  to  the  nobler  and  healthier  senti- 
ment of  patriotism.    Men  forgot  for  the  time  being  that 


BROADENING  PUBLIC  LIFE  207 

they  were  of  the  North  or  the  South;  they  forgot  that 
they  were  Stalwarts  or  Conservatives,  Republicans  or 
Democrats,  administration  or  anti-administration  men. 
They  remembered  only  that  they  were  Americans. 

"Let  us  remember  that  the  chief  object  of  prayer  is  not 
to  as^and  receive  favors  of  God.  That  were  a  narrow, 
selfish  consideration.  God  forbid  that  He  should  always 
grant  us  according  to  the  desires  of  our  hearts :  this  would 
be  abandoning  us  to  our  own  folly  and  the  withdrawing 
of  His  providence  from  us.  We  are  always  safe  in  leav- 
ing the  result  of  our  prayers  to  His  discretion.  The 
primary  motive  of  prayer  is  to  acknowledge  our  filial  de- 
pendence on  God  and  His  fatherly  care  of  us. 

"May  God  bless  and  preserve  our  beloved  country! 
While  Presidents  and  administrations  pass  away  may  our 
Government  live  and  prosper!  May  it  always  rest  on 
the  solid  foundations  of  law  and  order  and  justice  and 
the  devout  recognition  of  an  overruling  Providence! 
That  is  the  only  sure  foundation  for  its  permanent  dura- 
tion." 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  Gibbons  issued  what 
was  perhaps  the  first  official  direction  by  a  prelate  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  conformity  with  the  national  observ- 
ance of  Thanksgiving  Day.  That  festival  was  then  far 
less  widely  celebrated  than  it  has  since  come  to  be;  in 
parts  of  the  country  it  was  almost  ignored.  Its  Puritan 
origin  was  not  relished  by  some,  and  clergymen  of  vari- 
ous creeds  whose  ways  were  not  Puritan  ways  were  dis- 
posed to  pay  scant  attention  to  it. 

Not  until  the  time  of  Lincoln,  indeed,  did  the  custom 
begin  of  issuing  an  annual  presidential  proclamation 
exhorting  the  whole  body  of  the  people  to  demonstrate 
in  unison  gratitude  for  the  blessings  of  the  year.    Lin- 


208  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

coin's  precedent,  born  of  the  Civil  War  ^  and  associated 
in  some  minds  with  its  strife  and  passions,  excited  revul- 
sion as  well  as  assent.  One  of  the  strong  influences  which 
contributed  to  the  unified  national  feeling  on  this  subject 
that  finally  developed  was  the  example  of  Archbishop 
Gibbons. 

On  November  14,  1881,  he  issued  a  circular  to  the 
clergy  and  laity  of  the  archdiocese  of  Baltimore,  which 
became  a  model  for  other  Catholic  Bishops  who  subse- 
quently joined  in  the  program  that  he  initiated.    It  read : 

"St.  Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  Timothy,  desires  that 
'prayers  intercessions  and  thanksgivings  be  made  for 
kings  and  for  all  that  are  in  high  station,  that  we  may 
lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life  in  all  purity  and  chastity; 
for  this  is  good  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  Our 
Savior.'  If  the  Apostle  felt  it  to  be  an  imperative  duty 
to  pray  for  the  welfare  of  his  rulers  of  the  time,  who  were 
manifestly  hostile  to  the  Christian  religion,  surely  it 
behooves  us  to  pray  with  alacrity  for  the  continued  pros- 
perity of  our  beloved  country,  when  we  recall  to  mind 
the  many  advantages  which  we  enjoy  as  Christians  and 
citizens  under  our  system  of  government.  .  .  . 

"We  should  pray  for  all  our  functionaries,  both  state 
and  national,  that  they  may  discharge  the  important 
trusts  confided  in  them  with  a  due  and  conscientious  re- 
gard for  the  interests  of  the  people. 

"We  should  also  give  thanks  to  the  'Giver  of  all  good 
gifts'  not  only  for  the  blessings  we  have  received  from 
His  hands,  but  also  for  the  tranquillity  and  peace  we  en- 
joy and  for  the  harvest  with  which  the  land  has  been 
generally  favored. 

"Although  the  Church  every  day  through  the  voice  of 
her  ministers  returns  thanks  to  God  for  His  manifold 

'Rhodes,  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  320,  354. 


BROADENING  PUBLIC  LIFE  209 

gifts,  there  are  special  times  and  occasions  when  we 
should  render  to  Him  a  more  public  and  solemn  recogni- 
tion for  the  spiritual  and  temporal  favors  which  He 
vouchsafes  to  us.  A  fitting  occasion  will  be  presented 
to  us  for  offering  to  God  the  homage  of  our  adoration 
and  gratitude  on  Thursday,  November  24,  a  day  specially 
recommended  for  public  and  national  thanksgiving  by 
the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation. 

"You  are  therefore  invited  to  exhort  the  members  of 
your  congregation  to  assemble  in  church  on  that  day  and 
to  assist  in  Mass  to  be  celebrated  in  an  hour  which  you 
will  deem  most  convenient ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  Mass, 
the  prayer  of  Archbishop  Carroll  for  the  authorities  will 
be  recited." 

The  Archbishop  himself  delivered  the  Thanksgiving 
sermon  in  the  Baltimore  Cathedral,  in  which  he  highly 
commended  the  national  custom  to  all  Americans  with- 
out distinction  of  creed,  saying  : 

"It  is  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to  every  devout 
Christian  that  the  chief  executive  of  our  nation,  as  well 
as  the  governors  of  the  States,  is  accustomed  once  a  year 
to  invite  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  return  thanks 
to  God  for  His  blessings  to  the  country.  The  public  act 
of  our  chief  magistrate  in  proclaiming  the  supreme  do- 
minion and  providence  of  our  Creator  cannot  fail  to 
exert  a  salutary  influence  on  our  citizens  at  large,  and  to 
secure  for  us  a  continuance  of  divine  favors.  Let  each  of 
us,  also,  beloved  brethren,  be  diligent  in  offering  thanks 
to  God  for  the  individual  blessings  we  have  received, 
and  then  we  may  hope  to  be  more  abundantly  refreshed 
at  the  fountain  of  grace,  for  the  prayer  of  thanksgiving 
is  a  heavenly  stream  that  flows  into  the  ocean  of  Divine 
love  and  returns  to  us  again  in  showers  of  benediction." 

Although  Gibbons'  mind  and  sympathies  could  not  be 


210  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

cramped  within  any  locality,  he  had  cherished  from  early 
days  a  deep  affection  for  his  native  city  of  Baltimore; 
and  the  kindly  and  hospitable  people  who  formed  a  large 
part  of  its  population  found  almost  immediately  upon 
his  induction  into  the  See  that  he  was  ready  at  all  times 
to  extend  wholehearted  and  potent  cooperation  in  their 
public  projects.  Previously  they  had  felt  hesitancy  in 
calling  upon  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  or  any  Protes- 
tant cleric  among  them,  to  participate  in  such  affairs. 
They  had  felt  that  the  tradition  of  these  offices  was 
ecclesiastical  only,  and  that  the  attempt  to  trespass  upon 
it  would  be  an  unwarranted  intrusion.  The  mass  of  the 
people  of  the  city  had  seen  little  of  the  men  who  presided 
over  the  archdiocese.  They  had  held  the  office  in  distant 
deference  as  something  detached  from  the  material  af- 
fairs of  the  community. 

Gibbons  brought  a  reversal  of  this.  When  Balti- 
moreans  prepared  with  a  degree  of  public  spirit  rarely 
found  even  in  an  American  city  for  the  observance  in 
1880  of  its  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  as  a 
municipality,  they  soon  found  that  he  was  in  hearty  ac- 
cord with  their  plans.  They  were  no  less  surprised  than 
delighted  when  he  issued  a  circular  to  the  clergy  of  the 
city  which  he  directed  to  be  read  in  the  churches  on 
Sunday,  October  10,  of  that  year,  advising  that  Catholic 
organizations  should  take  an  active  part  in  the  parades 
and  other  festivities  to  be  held  and  that  the  clergy  and 
the  authorities  of  the  parochial  schools  should  march  with 
them.  At  the  same  time  he  exhorted  the  people  to  "avoid 
all  sinful  excess"  during  the  celebration.  Extracts  from 
the  circular  are: 


BROADENING  PUBLIC  LIFE  211 

"The  Catholics  of  Baltimore  have  already,  as  you  are 
aware,  given  to  their  fellow  citizens  unmistakable  proofs 
of  their  readiness  to  cooperate  with  them  in  making  the 
celebration  of  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  the  founding  of  this  great  and  beautiful  city  a  com- 
plete success.  This  is  as  it  should  be,  for  the  approaching 
festivities  will  be  a  most  fitting  occasion  for  us  to  realize 
the  many  advantages  which  we  enjoy  in  this  community, 
to  thank  God  for  all  His  graces,  especially  for  the 
precious  blessing  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  as  well  as 
to  honor  the  memory  of  those  farseeing  men  who  founded 
Baltimore,  to  whose  wisdom  and  moderation  its  citizens 
are,  in  a  great  measure,  indebted  under  God  for  the  free- 
dom and  prosperity  which  they  now  enjoy.  .  .  . 

"But  above  all  we  should  render  our  thanks  to  Him 
who  is  the  Giver  of  every  good  gift,  who  in  His  mercy 
has  cast  our  lot  in  a  city  founded  on  the  land  of  the 
Catholic  Carrolls,  whose  Cathedral  may  not  unjustly  be 
called  the  mother  of  episcopal  Sees  within  the  bounds 
of  the  United  States,  a  city  whose  inhabitants  in  the  past 
have  witnessed  the  most  interesting  events  of  Catholic 
history  in  this  country."  ^ 

Catholic  organizations  were  especially  numerous  in 
Baltimore  and  the  host  of  them  which  responded  to  the 
Archbishop's  appeal  contributed  greatly  to  swell  both  in 
numbers  and  in  picturesqueness  the  parades  of  the  cele- 
bration. Leading  men  of  the  city,  who  organized  the 
series  of  public  spectacles  which  marked  the  occasion, 
never  ceased  to  remember  with  gratitude  the  active  and 
cordial  help  of  the  Archbishop.  A  Te  Deum  was  sung  in 
the  Catholic  churches  of  Baltimore  on  the  Sunday  fol- 
lowing the  civic  observance. 

'Cathedral  Archives,  Baltimore. 


212  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

An  entry  in  Gibbons'  journal  in  that  year  was  signifi- 
cant of  coming  problems  that  were  to  develop  in  the 
Church.    It  read : 

"April  lo.  [1880].  Wrote  to  same  (Cardinal 
Simeoni)  in  relation  to  a  charge  that  the  German  people 
were  sometimes  neglected  by  Bishops  in  this  country  and 
in  relation  to  the  expediency  of  removing  females  from 
our  choirs.  I  stated  that  the  charge  was  untrue  as  far  as 
my  information  extended  and  I  declared  the  removal  of 
ladies  from  our  choirs  in  my  judgment  impractical  and 
inexpedient." 

Catholic  Bishops  being  required  to  go  to  Rome  every 
ten  years,  unless  excused  by  the  Pope,  Archbishop  Gib- 
bons made  a  visit  ad  limina  in  1880.  It  was  his  first  trip 
to  the  Eternal  City  since  the  Vatican  Council  ten  years 
before,  and  was  marked  by  his  first  meeting  with  Leo 
XIII  as  Pontiff.  Leaving  Baltimore  April  20,  he  sailed 
from  New  York  to  Liverpool  and  proceeded  by  way  of 
London  and  Paris  to  Rome,  where  he  spent  twenty-three 
days.  He  had  two  "delightful  audiences  of  the  Holy 
Father"  (thus  he  wrote  in  his  journal),  and  a  number 
of  conferences  with  Cardinals  Simeoni  and  Nina,  who 
were  particularly  concerned  with  the  affairs  of  the  Church 
in  America.  Cordiality  met  him  on  every  hand,  for  the 
new  aspect  which  he  was  giving  to  the  life  and  activities 
of  a  Catholic  Archbishop  in  the  United  States  was  well 
known  in  Rome  and  had  the  complete  approval  of  the 
far  sighted  Leo. 

That  Pontiff,  who  had  then  sat  for  two  years  in  the 
chair  of  Peter,  was  beginning  to  formulate  definitely  the 
enlightened  and  liberalizing  policies  which  distinguished 


BROADENING  PUBLIC  LIFE  213 

his  years  in  the  Papacy.  His  thoughts  were  the  thoughts 
of  Gibbons.  His  resolutions  were  the  resolutions  of 
Gibbons.  Each  in  his  own  sphere  penetrated  with  clear 
view  the  clouds  of  misunderstanding  which  then  ob- 
scured the  problems  of  the  world  to  so  many  in  high 
places.  They  shared  boldness  of  view  and  quickness  of 
decision. 

In  Europe  the  Church  had  been  compelled  to  deal  with 
governments,  for  only  through  governments,  as  political 
society  was  then  constituted,  could  she  reach  the  people, 
the  salvation  of  whose  souls  was  her  overwhelming  con- 
cern.   But  now  there  were  the  beginnings  of  a  new  align- 
ment.    It  was  less  necessary  for  the  Church  to  consider 
kings  and  prime  ministers  and  various  powerful  individ- 
uals whose  entrenched  rights  proceeded  from  birth  or 
tradition.     True,  in  much  of  Europe  parliaments  were 
feeble  and  the  people,  groping  half  blindly  in  the  exer- 
cise of  their  new  powers,  fell  into  divisions  which  griev- 
ously obstructed  them  in  the  realization  of  their  better 
political  and  social  hopes.     But  for  Leo  it  was  not  nec- 
essary to  wait  until  the  transformation  of  the  political 
setting  was  complete  so  that  all  might  discern  its  out- 
lines.    His  was  the  gift  of  vision  and  Gibbons'  was  the 
gift  of  vision.     To  the  Pontiff  it  was  clear  that  in  the 
providence  of  God  the  Church  must  now  appeal  to  peo- 
ples, and  in  a  broad  sense  he  aimed  with  unwavering 
policy    to    cooperate    with    the    great    democracies    of 
America  and  France  in  promoting  her  expansion.     His 
ear  was  ready  for  the  enlightened  advice  of  Gibbons. 

Like  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  he  felt  that  the 
wall  which  had  obstructed  the  Church  in  the  United 


2U  LIFE  OP  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

States  must  be  permitted  to  stand  no  longer.  It  was 
neither  his  wish  nor  that  of  Gibbons  to  combat  prejudice 
by  merely  denouncing  it.  They  preferred  to  show  by 
luminous  example  which  would  guide  the  Church  on  a 
new  pathway  that  a  Catholic  was  no  less  an  American 
because  he  was  a  Catholic — no  less  a  citizen  in  the  high- 
est and  truest  sense  because  his  supreme  spiritual  shep- 
herd on  earth  was  the  Pope. 

Gibbons  took  new  hope  and  heart  from  his  conferences 
with  Leo.  The  time  was  ripe  for  his  work.  When  others 
might  doubt,  delay  or  obstruct  he  felt  that  he  might  pro- 
ceed with  sure  step,  looking  to  the  wisdom  and  statesman- 
ship of  the  Pontiff  with  a  reliance  which  would  not  fail 
him. 

Refreshing  himself  with  a  leisurely  trip  homeward,  he 
stopped  at  Florence,  Bologna,  Verona  and  Innsbruck  and 
witnessed  the  Passion  Play  at  Oberammergau.  Then  he 
proceeded  to  Munich,  Mayence,  Cologne,  Amsterdam, 
Brussels  and  Paris.  Crossing  to  England,  he  visited  Lul- 
worth  Castle,  where  Archbishop  Carroll  had  been  conse- 
crated for  the  work  that  had  now  fallen  into  his  hands 
and  which  he  was  resolved  to  carry  on  in  a  vastly  greater 
field  with  the  spirit  which  on  the  part  of  the  first  incum- 
bent of  the  See  of  Baltimore  had  won  the  unstinted  ad- 
miration of  Washington. 

The  great  Victorian,  Newman,  was  then  at  the  summit 
of  his  fame,  basking  in  the  full  ecclesiastic  favor  which 
brightened  his  later  years.  Archbishop  Gibbons  could 
not  forego  a  pilgrimage  to  the  oratory  of  Edgbaston,  near 
Birmingham,  whence  the  light  of  that  master  shone  upon 
the  English  speaking  world.     He  reached  Birmingham 


BROADENING  PUBLIC  LIFE  215 

on  his  own  birthday,  July  23,  having  been  invited  to 
dine  with  the  Cardinal,  but,  arriving  too  late,  breakfasted 
at  Edgbaston  the  next  day.  Gibbons  found  Newman 
exhibiting  the  simplicity  of  true  greatness,  living  ab- 
stemiously and  quietly.  His  cassock  was  a  plain  one  of 
black  and  his  manners  were  as  unostentatious  as  his 
attire.  The  fountain  of  his  brilliant  conversation  flowed 
freely  and  the  American  prelate  was  charmed  to  discern 
in  his  rounded  sentences  the  same  literary  quality  which 
on  the  printed  page  was  fascinating  the  world. 

Newman  talked  freely  with  Gibbons  of  his  then  recent 
trial  on  the  charge  of  libeling  the  ex-priest  Achilli  and 
of  the  prejudice  which  had  beset  him  throughout  the 
progress  of  the  case.  The  English  Cardinal  remarked 
that  Gladstone  had  asked  his  permission  to  propose  a 
resolution  in  the  House  of  Commons  apologizing  to  him 
for  the  injury  done  but  that  he  had  declined  this  method 
of  vindication,  preferring  to  trust  to  the  impartial  jus- 
tice which  would  come  in  time. 

Gibbons  bore  away  as  treasures  of  the  interview  copies 
of  several  of  Newman's  works  autographed  in  the  hand 
that  had  held  the  pen  from  which  their  limpid  sentences 
had  flowed.  He  remarked  upon  the  ''wealth  of  anecdote 
and  narrative"  that  came  so  abundantly  from  Newman. 

Soon  after  his  return  to  America,  he  was  stricken  by 
a  personal  bereavement.  His  mother,  whom  he  had  often 
visited  in  her  declining  years  and  the  struggles  of  whose 
untimely  widowhood  he  vividly  remembered,  died  at  the 
home  of  his  sister.*  His  journal  of  the  following  day 
contains  this  simple  entry : 

*Mrs.  Swarbrick,  in  New  Orleans,  May  7,  1883. 


216  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"My  dear  mother  died  last  night  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years.     May  she  rest  in  peace." 

Amid  the  greatest  pressure  of  his  career  in  the  ecclesi- 
astical world  he  had  never  ceased  to  be  solicitous  of  his 
mother's  welfare.  Her  strength  of  character  had  been 
one  of  his  most  potent  inspirations  and  he  returned  her 
affection  with  a  degree  of  filial  devotion  seldom  observed 
in  the  great  or  the  small.  Family  ties  remained  strong 
with  him  throughout  his  life.  He  continued  to  visit 
New  Orleans  every  Lent  as  the  guest  of  his  brother,  John 
T.  Gibbons,  who  had  risen  to  wealth  as  a  grain  merchant. 
There,  amid  peaceful  domestic  scenes,  his  devotions  of  the 
season  were  uninterrupted  by  the  strain  of  public  duty. 

The  uncertainty  of  human  events  in  another  direction 
was  strikingly  illustrated  by  an  experience  of  the  Arch- 
bishop March  4,  1885,  when  Washington  was  resounding 
with  the  acclamations  of  a  multitude  assembled  at  the 
inauguration  of  President  Cleveland,  following  the  ex- 
citing campaign  in  which  Mr.  Blaine  had  been  defeated. 
His  journal  for  that  day  has  the  following  entry: 

"Mrs.  Walker  (James  G.  Blaine's  sister)  was  buried 
from  the  Cathedral.  Mr.  Blaine  was  present.  I  was 
assisted  in  the  sanctuary  by  Father  Curtis  and  preached." 

Mr.  Blaine  had  become  his  warm  friend.  On  the  occa- 
sion of  a  subsequent  visit  to  the  Archbishop,  that  striking 
figure  in  American  politics  whom  admiring  ones  loved 
to  call  "the  plumed  knight,"  expressed  himself  as  pro- 
foundly impressed  with  the  vanity  of  earthly  glory, 
whose  chief  prize  in  his  eyes  had  been  snatched  from 
him.    He  enumerated  on  his  fingers  Presidents  who  had 


BROADENING  PUBLIC  LIFE  217 

been  weighed  down  by  the  cares  of  state  and  whose  pub- 
lic careers  had  been  cut  short  suddenly  by  death. 

The  Archbishop  had  observed  with  interest  that  Mr. 
Blaine's  failure  to  obtain  the  coveted  post  of  chief  magis- 
trate had  been  due  to  the  ill-judged  speech  of  a  Protes- 
tant clergyman  ^  who  had  declared  him  to  be  the  cham- 
pion against  a  party  identified  with  "rum,  Romanism  and 
rebellion."  Gibbons'  comment  upon  this  was  that  the 
Republican  candidate  would  have  been  elected  "were  it 
not  for  the  ill-timed  speech  of  a  fanatical  preacher."  ® 

The  anarchist  riots  in  Chicago,  May  4,  1886,  pro- 
foundly moved  the  Archbishop  with  a  sense  of  danger  to 
the  country.  Preaching  five  days  later  at  the  dedication 
of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Cross,  Baltimore,  a  large  num- 
ber of  whose  members  were  of  German  birth,  he  de- 
nounced anarchy,  socialism  and  nihilism  with  a  vigor 
that  foreshadowed  the  powerful  blows  which  he  dealt 
later  to  political  radicalism  in  all  its  forms.    He  said : 

"The  Government  of  the  United  States  is  a  govern- 
ment for  the  benefit  of  the  people.  Strangers  from  every 
part  of  Europe  are  welcomed  to  our  shores.  Like  the  sun 
that  shines  over  all,  the  Government  of  our  country  sheds 
its  genial  rays  upon  all  classes  without  regard  to  race, 
nationality  or  religion.  The  glorious  banner  of  our  coun- 
try protects  alike  the  humble  and  the  poor,  the  mighty 
and  the  rich.  Every  man  in  the  United  States  has  an 
opportunity  for  carving  for  himself  an  honest  livelihood 
and  many  have  opportunities  of  acquiring  independent 
fortunes. 

"The  German  population  of  Baltimore  forms  an  im- 
portant, conservative  and  influential  element  of  our  peo- 

•The  Rev.  Dr.  Burchard. 

'Sermon  in  the  Balrimore  Cathedral. 


218  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

pie  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  German  population 
throughout  the  United  States  as  well  as  that  of  other  na- 
tionalities. They  contribute  largely  to  the  development 
of  the  resources  of  this  country  and  daily  augment  our 
material  prosperity.  But,  as  the  events  of  the  last  few 
days  in  Chicago  have  shown,  there  exists  in  this  country 
a  small  but  turbulent  element  composed  of  men  who 
boldly  preach  the  gospel  of  anarchy,  socialism  and  nihil- 
ism. These  men  are  pirates  preying  upon  the  industry, 
commerce  and  trade  of  the  country.  Their  favorite 
weapon  is  dynamite.  Their  mission  is  to  destroy  rather 
than  to  build. 

"Instead  of  strengthening  the  hands  of  the  Govern- 
ment that  upholds  and  protects  them,  they  are  bent  upon 
its  destruction.  Instead  of  blessing  the  mother  who 
opens  her  arms  to  welcome  them,  they  insult  and  strike 
her.  If  these  men  had  their  way,  industry  and  trade 
would  be  paralyzed;  honest  labor  would  be  unrewarded 
and  gaunt  poverty  would  stalk  over  the  land. 

"They  have  no  conception  of  true  liberty.  They  would 
retain  for  themselves  a  large  share  of  freedom,  leaving 
to  others  only  a  morsel. 

"The  citizens  of  the  United  States  enjoy  the  amplest 
liberty,  but  it  is  a  liberty  of  law,  of  order  and  of  au- 
thority. Liberty  without  law  degenerates  into  license. 
We  have  no  standing  armies  in  this  country  and  I  am 
glad  of  it  "^  for  such  armies  are  a  great  strain  upon  the 
resources  of  the  country,  and  necessarily  condemn  large 
numbers  of  men  to  a  life  of  forced  idleness.  The 
strongest  force  of  a  nation  lies  in  the  laws  of  the  land 
judiciously  administered,  when  these  laws  are  sustained 
by  healthy  public  opinion.  The  strongest  bulwark  of  a 
nation  is  found  in  the  intelligence,  virtue  and  patriotism 
of  its  native  and  adopted  citizens.    So  long  as  they  love 

*  Standing  army  of  the  United  States  was  then  only  a  nucleus  unit  of 
25,000  men. 


BROADENING  PUBLIC  LIFE  219 

their  country  and  are  ready  to  die  for  her,  if  necessary, 
we  will  have  nothing  to  fear  from  anarchism,  socialism 
and  nihilism.  Socialism  is  a  foreign  plant,  a  noxious 
exotic  which  grows  only  in  dark  places  and  withers  and 
decays  under  the  genial  sun  and  atmosphere  of  the 
United  States." 

Having  been  brought  near  the  brink  of  death  from  yel- 
low fever  in  his  youth  in  New  Orleans,  he  sought  assidu- 
ously to  assist  the  sufferers  from  another  visitation  of 
that  pestilence  with  which  the  city  was  afflicted  in  1878. 
On  September  4  of  that  year,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
clergy  of  the  Archdiocese  of  Baltimore,  directing  that  a 
collection  be  taken  in  all  the  churches  for  the  fever  suf- 
ferers in  Louisiana,  Mississippi  and  Tennessee.  Deplor- 
ing some  of  the  methods  of  the  Federal  quarantine,  he 
declared  that  the  prevalence  of  the  fever  was  aggravated 
by  the  "blockade  which  is  enforced  against  these  cities 
(New  Orleans,  Vicksburg  and  Memphis),  which  places 
them  in  a  state  of  isolation,  which  has  paralyzed  trade 
and  commerce,  has  thrown  out  of  employment  hundreds 
who  were  able  to  work,  and  has  reduced  them  to  a  con- 
dition of  forced  idleness.  While  we  contemplate  the 
sad  spectacle  of  so  many  faithful  priests  and  sisters  and 
volunteer  nurses,  dying  like  brave  sentinels  at  their  posts, 
victims  of  heroic  charity;  while  we  behold  so  many  hun- 
dreds of  our  fellow  beings  of  every  race  and  religion 
swept  away  by  the  poisonous  pestilence,  we  should  be 
doubly  grateful  to  God  that  we  are  preserved  from  so 
dreadful  a  visitation,  and  that  we  are  in  the  enjoyment 
of  social  and  commercial  relations  with  the  outside 
world."  « 

'Cathedral  Archives,  Baltimore. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  VERSATILE  REACH 

The  range  of  public  activities  in  which  Archbishop 
Gibbons  showed  a  willingness  to  join  in  Baltimore  was 
nothing  short  of  amazing,  whether  it  be  considered  in 
comparison  with  his  own  more  intimate  preoccupations 
or  on  the  basis  of  precedent.  A  ready  response  to  ome 
appeal  soon  brought  another  from  a  different  source,  for 
groups  of  people  naturally  felt  complimented  by  his 
versatile  and  comprehensive  perception  of  their  whole- 
some material  interests.  Unsparing  of  himself  in  labors 
and  commitments  of  every  kind,  he  refused  aid  to  no 
good  cause,  whether  it  was  for  the  benefit  of  Catholic  or 
Protestant,  Jew  or  Gentile. 

Thus  he  soon  became  more  thoroughly  identified  in  the 
public  mind  with  the  general  interests  of  the  city  than 
any  other  of  its  citizens.  Although  that  position  was 
unique  for  a  churchman,  it  seemed  in  his  case  to  be  the 
most  natural  thing  in  the  world.  It  was,  in  truth,  an  ex- 
pression of  his  own  disposition,  for  none  who  knew  him 
could  doubt  that  in  the  broadest  sense  his  life  was  for 
all  humanity. 

At  first  the  demands  of  the  community  on  the  Arch- 
bishop were  in  the  line  of  his  ecclesiastical  calling.  He 
was  besought  to  offer  prayer  on  formal  public  occasions 

as  Baltimore's  foremost  cleric,  and  he  never  hesitated  to 

220  N 


THE  VERSATILE  REACH  221 

comply  when  he  could  do  so,  reciting  a  simple  but  elo- 
quent petition  in  which  all  could  join,  and  ending  with 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  which  many  repeated  in  reverent  uni- 
son with  him.  Possessing  the  rare  gift  of  using  the  right 
word  at  the  right  time,  he  could  speak  upon  any  subject 
with  direct  simplicity  to  his  fellow  citizens.  Brushing 
aside  all  distinctions  of  creed  and  rank  in  common  effort 
with  others,  he  sat  on  public  platfonns  with  Methodists, 
Jews  and  Quakers.  None  spoke  with  more  sincere  patri- 
otism, more  progressive  spirit.  Governor  and  Mayor 
regarded  him  as  a  friend  and  leaned  upon  his  advice. 

On  a  social  occasion,  he  could  be  charming.  When 
Baltimoreans  have  some  particularly  important  business 
to  transact,  it  is  their  custom  to  have  a  banquet.  It  is 
characteristic  of  them  that  some  of  their  greatest  inspira- 
tions to  public  achievement  have  been  born  amid  the  gas- 
tronomic delights  of  the  diamond-back  terrapin  and  the 
canvas-back  duck.  It  grew  to  be  a  familiar  spectacle  to 
see  the  Archbishop  at  the  banquet  board  in  the  place  of 
honor,  at  the  right  of  the  presiding  officer.  He  seldom 
remained  to  the  end,  and  took  no  part  in  the  purely  con- 
vivial aspect  of  the  gathering.  When  he  spoke,  it  was 
as  a  patriot  no  less  than  a  preacher.  His  habit  of  grace- 
fully fitting  into  his  surroundings  was  nowhere  more 
conspicuous  than  at  the  social  board. 

On  the  streets  of  the  city  his  slender,  graceful  form 
in  clerical  black,  relieved  by  a  touch  of  purple,  became 
familiar  to  passers-by  as  he  took  long  walks,  swinging 
a  cane  and  chatting  in  animated  fashion  with  a  com- 
panion. The  habit  of  indulging  in  this  form  of  exercise 
and  diversion  had  persisted  from  the  care-free  years  when 


222  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

pedestrian  excursions  were  compulsory  for  him  as  a  stu- 
dent at  St.  Charles'  College.  As  in  those  days  of  his  early 
manhood,  he  often  had  as  a  companion  a  student  who 
was  preparing  for  the  priesthood. 

This  young  man,  usually  from  St.  Mary's  Seminary, 
only  a  short  distance  from  the  archiepiscopal  residence, 
was  sometimes  inclined  to  be  overwhelmed  and  confused 
by  the  honor  of  being  selected  to  walk  with  the  Arch- 
bishop, but  was  soon  put  at  ease  by  Gibbons,  who  was 
consummately  able  to  be  all  things  to  all  men.  It  seemed 
to  distress  him  when  any  one  appeared  to  be  constrained 
in  his  presence,  but  constraint  vanished  under  the  influ- 
ence of  his  ready  tact.  The  student  found  in  the  simple, 
kindly,  unaffected  cordiality  of  the  prelate  a  means  of 
forgetting  their  disparity  in  rank. 

They  chatted  at  times  almost  as  boys,  for  the  Arch- 
bishop's heart  was  essentially  youthful,  and  he  loved  the 
frankness  that  bubbles  in  the  period  of  life  before 
heavy  responsibility  imposes  its  burden  of  caution. 
The  student  came  to  feel  that  he  was  talking  with  one 
of  the  gentlest  and  most  sympathetic  of  men  to  whom 
nothing  human  was  foreign. 

It  was  not  unusual  that  before  they  had  progressed  far 
the  young  man  found  himself  telling  the  Archbishop  of 
his  home  State,  perhaps  far  distant,  the  condition  of  the 
Catholic  Church  there,  the  attitude  of  the  people  toward 
the  Church  and  general  social  and  political  conditions. 
These  impressions  were  what  Gibbons  was  particularly 
seeking,  for  he  had  habitually  adopted  such  means  of 
obtaining  information  not  only  in  the  case  of  seminarians 
with  whom  he  walked,  but  with  many  others  with  whom 


THE  VERSATILE  REACH  223 

he  came  in  contact,  thus  building  up  his  comprehensive 
knowledge  of  men  and  things  in  his  own  country.  So 
tactfully  did  he  draw  out  the  student  that,  unless  advised 
in  advance  by  some  one  who  had  undergone  a  similar 
experience,  the  young  man  usually  did  not  know  that  he 
had  done  more  than  entertain  with  random  conversation 
his  ecclesiastical  superior  in  a  brief  period  of  relaxation 
of  mind. 

The  Archbishop  thus  formed  estimates  of  young 
priests  which  he  turned  to  rarely  good  account  in  assign- 
ing them  to  work  and  promoting  them  after  they  had 
finished  their  studies.  Bishops  in  petto  disclosed  them- 
selves to  him  on  these  walks.  One  of  his  greatest  services 
to  the  Church  in  America  was  the  elevation  through  his 
instrumentality  to  her  higher  posts  of  a  group  of  men 
who  have  made  the  Hierarchy  in  this  country  a  far 
stronger  body  than  it  had  ever  been  before  his  time. 

The  excursions  were  so  long  that  the  student  was  often 
thoroughly  tired  out  at  the  conclusion,  for  in  those  days 
the  Archbishop  thought  it  nothing  exceptional  to  cover 
four  or  five  miles  in  the  hour  and  a  half  usually  allotted 
for  his  afternoon  walk.  Traversing  the  streets  at  a  rapid 
pace,  usually  with  his  head  bent  as  if  in  thought,  he  was 
yet  able  to  discern  everything  in  his  vicinity.  At  first 
dozens,  and  in  later  years  hundreds  of  people  in  all 
walks  of  life  raised  their  hats  and  saluted  him  on  terms 
of  acquaintance  as  he  swung  along.  Now  and  then  he 
stopped  to  chat.  His  memory  for  names  and  faces  was 
often  amazing  to  friends  who  saluted  him,  as  he  spoke 
of  family  affairs  and  personal  details  which  might  have 
seemed  insignificant  to  many. 


224  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

With  a  wholesome  naturalness,  he  would  pause  now 
and  then  to  observe  the  progress  of  street  incidents.  An 
observer  related  that  on  one  occasion  in  a  part  of  the 
city  far  removed  from  the  arch i episcopal  house  he  once 
saw  a  group  of  boys  angrily  disputing  over  a  baseball 
game,  and  in  the  midst  of  them  a  slender  man  seeking  to 
calm  them  and  arbitrate  their  dispute.  The  angry  voices 
subsided;  peace  was  restored,  smiles  replaced  the  scowls 
that  had  darkened  the  youthful  countenances,  and  the 
game  proceeded  as  before.  As  the  observer  drew  nearer, 
he  was  amazed  to  find  that  the  peacemaker  had  been  the 
Archbishop,  who  serenely  resumed  his  walk  when  the 
incident  had  been  disposed  of. 

Among  those  with  whom  the  Archbishop  sometimes 
paused  to  chat  in  a  friendly  way  were  Protestant  minis- 
ters, and  as  his  years  in  the  diocese  increased  the  number 
of  these  grew  to  large  proportions.  The  unaffected  cor- 
diality of  such  interviews  produced  profound  impres- 
sions that  often  led  to  closer  acquaintanceship,  and  to  the 
advice  of  the  Archbishop  being  sought  on  many  matters 
by  not  a  few  clergymen  of  other  creeds  than  his  own. 

He  was  fond  of  varying  his  pedestrian  routes,  and  by 
this  means  came  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  physical 
aspects  of  Baltimore,  its  streets,  buildings  and  public 
institutions,  which  was  perhaps  not  excelled  by  any  other 
resident  of  the  city.  One  of  his  favorite  journeys  was 
out  Charles  Street,  on  which  the  archiepiscopal  residence 
is  situated,  through  a  section  then  embracing  the  most 
beautiful  residences  of  the  city,  and  into  a  network  of 
quiet  suburban  roads  over  which  he  proceeded  until  he 
reached  Notre  Dame  College  for  women.    At  the  end  of 


THE  VERSATILE  REACH  225 

this  long  walk,  he  was  sometimes  in  a  mood  for  rest  and 
the  Sisters  in  charge  of  the  college  always  kept  a  room, 
ready  for  him  in  which  he  might  find  complete  privacy. 

He  did  not  shun  the  quarters  of  the  city  in  which 
poverty  was  apparent,  nor  even  the  rougher  districts 
along  the  water  front  where,  now  and  then,  his  experi- 
ences were  unpleasant.  A  resident  of  Baltimore  once 
intervened  to  rescue  him  when  he  was  threatened  by  a 
half-drunken  idler  in  the  vicinity  of  a  wharf.  The  vag- 
rant was  astonished  when,  in  the  course  of  the  vigorous 
rebuke  which  he  received  from  the  Archbishop's  rescuer, 
he  learned  of  the  distinguished  office  of  the  pedestrian 
whom  he  had  rudely  accosted. 

When  Gibbons  first  fell  into  the  habit  of  taking  these 
walks  he  was  comparatively  young  and  active  and  the 
slow  street  traffic  in  Baltimore  involved  little  danger  to 
him.  As  methods  of  transportation  changed  and  auto- 
mobiles and  trolley  cars  began  to  whiz  through  the 
streets  his  youthful  companions  found  it  necessary  to 
guard  him  carefully  from  accident.  One  of  them  whose 
quickness  was  perhaps  a  means  of  preserving  his  life  on 
a  certain  occasion  after  he  had  become  a  Cardinal  thus 
told  of  the  experience ; 

"Nearing  the  middle  of  the  street,  a  northbound  auto- 
mobile truck  approached  us.  We  stopped  to  let  the  ma- 
chine pass.  Suddenly  a  fast  moving  touring  car  swung 
out  from  behind  the  truck.  It  was  bearing  down  on  us. 
I  hastily  seized  the  Cardinal's  arm  and  rushed  him  across 
to  the  sidewalk. 

"When  we  arrived  safely  on  the  sidewalk,  I  apologized 
to  his  Eminence  for  my  lack  of  gentleness. 

"  'Oh,'  replied  his  Eminence,  'never  mind  that,  my 


226  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

son,'  and  standing  on  the  corner,  apparently  to  regain 
his  usual  composure,  he  continued,  'let  me  tell  you  a 
story.' 

"  'Two  of  my  clerical  friends  were  roughing  it  in 
the  backwoods  of  Virginia.  One  day  as  they  were  tramp- 
ing along,  one  suddenly  struck  the  other  a  heavy  blow — ■ 
a  blow  that  knocked  him  sprawling.  The  one  who  had 
dealt  the  blow  assisted  his  friend  to  his  feet.  At  the  same 
time  he  apologized  for  his  apparent  rudeness  in  these 
words:  "If  I  had  not  hit  you,  you  would  have  stepped 
on  a  rattlesnake." 

"  'Thus  you  see,'  concluded  the  Cardinal,  'that  it  is 
necessary  to  use  rough  tactics  sometimes.' 


J  >> 


Gibbons  regulated  his  walks  so  that  almost  invariably 
he  returned  to  the  Cathedral  at  two  minutes  before  six. 
Sometimes  he  amused  himself,  upon  entering  the  Cathe- 
dral grounds,  by  turning  to  the  seminarian  who  was  with 
him,  and  asking  him  to  guess  the  time.  One  of  his  com- 
panions on  an  afternoon  walk  taken  when  Gibbons  was 
advanced  in  years  relates  this  incident : 

"Knowing  that  the  Cardinal  would  ask  me  to  guess 
the  time,  I  took  out  my  watch  when  we  were  several 
blocks  away  from  the  Cathedral  and  noticed  that  it  was 
ten  minutes  to  six. 

"When  we  entered  the  Cathedral  grounds,  his  Emin- 
ence turned  to  me,  and  said :  'Mr. ,  let  us  guess  the 

time.    You  have  the  privilege  of  making  the  first  guess.' 

"  T  guess  that  it  is  four  minutes  to  six,  your  Emi- 
nence,' I  replied. 

"  'And  I  believe  that  it  is  two  minutes,'  said  his 
Eminence. 

"Watches  were  compared.  The  Cardinal  had  guessed 
the  exact  time." 


THE  VERSATILE  REACH  227 

Gibbons'  whole  attitude  in  and  out  of  his  ecclesiastical 
relation  was  a  powerful  appeal  to  non-Catholics.  On  an 
extremely  hot  Sunday  in  midsummer,  while  in  Southern 
Maryland,  he  asked  the  clergyman  who  accompanied  him 
to  preach.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  sermon,  when  the 
priest  descended  from  the  pulpit  almost  exhausted  by  a 
vigorous  discourse  on  the  doctrine  of  absolution,  he  was 
surprised  to  see  the  Archbishop  ascend  the  steps  and 
preach  again,  but  on  a  very  different  topic — one  which 
appealed  to  persons  of  all  creeds. 

"I  thought  you  asked  me  to  preach^"  exclaimed  the 
astonished  clergyman,  when  the  congregation  had  been 
dismissed. 

"Did  you  not  see,"  replied  the  Archbishop,  "that  more 
than  half  of  the  congregation  were  Protestants^" 

Gibbons  had  not  been  in  the  diocese  long  before  it  was 
observed  with  especial  interest  that  he  never  failed  to 
register  as  a  voter  and  that  on  election  days  he  was 
usually  one  of  the  most  prompt  in  his  precinct  in  casting 
his  ballot.  In  the  early  days  of  his  archbishopric,  the 
election  officials,  mostly  politicians  of  a  small  sort  who 
resided  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  archiepiscopal  resi- 
dence, were  surprised  and  agitated  at  the  unexpected  spec- 
tacle of  the  prelate  performing  his  civic  duty  with  the 
simplicity  which  might  mark  any  of  his  neighbors.  In 
time  they  took  it  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  the  only 
unusual  manifestation  when  he  appeared  to  vote  was 
the  deference  which  was  shown  to  him  by  all  in  the 
polling  place. 

He  did  not  identify  himself  with  any  party,  but  few 
men  in  the  country  were  as  well  informed  upon  general 


228  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

political  conditions  as  he.  At  night,  in  the  quiet  of  his 
residence,  he  read  much  of  United  States  history  and 
civil  government.  They  were  his  favorite  studies  apart 
from  those  which  pertained  to  his  office  in  the  Church. 
He  became  one  of  the  most  deeply  versed  of  Americans  on 
the  Federal  Constitution,  its  history  and  its  interpre- 
tation. 

Theology,  canon  law  and  church  history  occupied 
much  of  his  reading,  but  his  religion  was  not  predomi- 
nantly of  the  speculative  kind;  it  was  a  religion  of  action, 
whose  supreme  expression  was  service  to  his  fellow  men. 
When  he  preached  or  spoke  of  religious  topics,  he  usually 
reasoned  in  simple  terms  with  others,  rather  than  at- 
tempted to  influence  them  by  the  weight  of  logic  and 
learning.  "Happily,"  he  once  wrote,  "it  did  not  please 
God  to  save  the  world  by  logic  or  philosophy,  nor  would 
it  have  pleased  man.  The  world  was  never  governed  by 
philosophy;  it  has  never  wanted  to  be,  and  it  never  will 
be.  Christianity  knows  the  nature  of  man;  it  has  a  far 
deeper  wisdom  than  was  ever  dreamed  of  in  the  philoso- 
phies of  the  great  thinkers."  ^ 

Under  Gibbons'  regime  in  the  diocese  of  Baltimore, 
new  churches,  schools  and  reformatory  institutions  in- 
creased fast  and  converts  swelled  the  congregations.  The 
number  of  churches  was  more  than  tripled  while  he  was 
Archbishop.  Every  Catholic  was  heartened  by  the  bold 
strokes  of  such  leadership.  His  direct  influence  seemed 
to  be  felt  in  the  most  remote  chapel  of  his  jurisdiction, 
for  no  detail  of  the  field  was  too  small  to  receive  the 

*  Reply  to  Thomas  A.  Edison's  views  on  immortality,  Columbian  Maga- 
zine, March,  191 1. 


THE  VERSATILE  REACH  229 

painstaking  attention  which  he  seemed  to  be  able  to 
shower  so  widely  in  abundant  streams. 

His  labors  were  incessant.  Men  of  the  most  robust 
physique  could  scarcely  keep  up  with  him.  His  health 
as  he  reached  the  peak  of  maturity  showed  improvement, 
but  his  digestion  remained  weak  and  at  times  he  appeared 
almost  emaciated.  On  one  occasion  it  was  said  of  him 
that  his  frame  seemed  barely  substantial  enough  to  hold 
the  soul  within.  His  form,  however,  was  compact  and 
sinewy,  and  the  iron  resolution  which  drove  him  forward 
in  his  work  could  not  be  daunted  by  slight  physical  ills. 

His  pathology,  indeed,  was  a  marvel.  Organically 
sound  from  boyhood,  he  was  nevertheless  subject  to 
periods  of  feeble  vitality.  This  was  partly  due  to  poor 
nutrition  which  had  continued  since  his  days  in  the  Can- 
ton pastorate,  when  the  excessive  strain  of  the  long  fasts 
before  two  Sunday  Masses  had  made  heavy  inroads  on 
his  digestion.  Prudence  in  diet  and  regularity  of  exer- 
cise reduced  this  obstacle  but  never  removed  it.  At  times 
he  showed  a  tendency  to  collapse  under  strain,  but  this 
was  offset  by  an  amazing  power  of  quick  recuperation. 
After  a  long  and  fatiguing  ecclesiastical  ceremony,  he 
would  sometimes  seem  exhausted;  but  a  rest  of  half  an 
hour  or  even  less  would  restore  him  as  if  he  had  taken 
a  deep  draught  from  a  fountain  of  perpetual  strength. 

Large  undertakings  inspired  him  physically  as  well 
as  mentally.  His  eyes  would  become  alight  under  this 
stimulus,  every  feature  of  his  keen  face  would  become  set 
in  firm  outline  and  even  a  slight  habitual  stoop  of  his 
shoulders  would  be  strangely  missing.  The  wonderful 
engine  of  his  mind  never  lost  a  fraction  of  its  power, 


230  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

but  throbbed  at  the  same  high  pressure  in  physical  accel- 
eration or  depression. 

The  potent  influences  that  held  him  up  were  clearly 
not  physical.  To  him  life  was  a  spiritual  warfare,  and 
he  was  a  soldier  advancing  to  the  charge  who  could  not 
falter  until  stricken  down.  His  optimism  was  boundless. 
Now  and  then  he  would  show  impatience,  as  all  men  do, 
but  he  avoided  worry.  There  was  a  calm  confidence  upon 
him  which  seemed  to  be  not  of  this  earth. 

Amid  all  the  burdens  which  fell  upon  him  he  practised 
his  devotions,  which  occupied  several  hours  a  day,  with 
unfailing  regularity.  He  arose  at  six  o'clock  every  morn- 
ing. Sometimes  he  took  a  little  light  exercise  in  his 
room  to  start  the  circulation  of  his  blood,  which  was  dis- 
posed to  be  sluggish.  Soon  afterward  he  said  Mass  and, 
following  a  light  breakfast,  was  alert  for  the  business 
of  the  day.  His  callers  were  perhaps  more  numerous 
than  those  of  any  other  Archbishop  in  the  world,  because 
he  denied  himself  to  none.  Some  came  for  religious  con- 
sultation, others  for  advice;  still  others,  to  solicit  alms, 
to  invite  his  participation  in  public  affairs,  to  urge  his 
presence  in  churches,  to  seek  his  advice  on  a  variety  of 
subjects  that  would  bewilder  an  ordinary  man. 

At  his  front  door  was  usually  an  usher,  generally  a  lad 
whom  he  had  befriended  by  means  of  this  employment, 
and  whom  later  he  placed  in  a  position  where  there  was 
a  chance  to  rise  in  the  world.  This  usher  received  the 
cards  of  visitors  and  escorted  them  to  one  of  the  two  re- 
ception rooms  on  the  main  floor  of  the  archiepiscopal  resi- 
dence. Not  infrequently  there  were  waiting  groups  in 
both  of  these  rooms,  and  the  Archbishop  was  kept  busy 


THE  VERSATILE  REACH  231 

going  from  one  of  them  to  the  other,  almost  as  if  it  had 
been  a  general  reception. 

In  an  interval  he  would  trip  lightly  up  the  stairs  to 
his  study,  where  he  would  write  or  dictate;  but  at  the 
next  call  he  would  descend  again  with  unruffled  patience 
and  a  cheerful  cordiality  which  made  the  visitor  feel 
thoroughly  at  home.  He  could  turn  to  each  caller  with 
complete  ease,  as  if  the  last  one  had  been  the  first  whom 
he  had  seen.  The  breadth  of  his  character  and  observa- 
tion, together  with  the  ready  social  faculty  which  was  a 
part  of  him,  gave  him  the  power  of  meeting  almost  all, 
persons  on  a  footing  of  congeniality. 

His  purse  at  that  time  was  not  over  full,  though  he  was 
beginning  to  receive  a  considerable  revenue  from  royalties 
on  "The  Faith  of  our  Fathers,"  his  famous  apologia 
which  leaped  into  immense  popularity.  This  went  alt 
most  as  quickly  as  it  came.  He  helped  students  with 
contributions,  assisted  the  poor,  subscribed  to  worthy 
undertakings  and  was  a  patron  of  literature  and  art.  It 
was  said  of  him  that  he  was  perhaps  the  readiest  man  in 
Baltimore  to  give  a  response  to  an  appeal  for  aid.  With 
all  his  keen  discrimination  of  character  and  his  power  of 
reading  men,  kindness  of  heart  predominated  in  his 
impulses. 

His  memory  for  names  and  faces  and  his  exceptionally 
large  acquaintance  contributed  greatly  to  swell  the  num- 
ber of  his  visitors.  He  could  identify  children  by  their 
resemblance  to  their  parents,  and  was  fond  of  testing 
his  capacity  in  this  respect,  to  the  surprise  of  fathers  and 
mothers.  Couples  whom  he  had  married  were  his  friends 
forever,  and  he  wished  not  to  lose  sight  of  any  of  them. 


232  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

He  dined  about  one  o'clock;  then  he  rested  a  while, 
perhaps  received  more  callers,  and  about  4:30  o'clock 
came  the  daily  walk  or  drive.  After  supper  he  studied 
or  made  visits.  At  times  he  had  a  habit  of  dropping  in 
on  parishioners  or  other  friends  in  the  evening,  chat- 
ting half  an  hour,  perhaps  remaining  for  a  cup  of  tea, 
and  always  being  the  life  of  any  party  in  which  he  hap- 
pened to  be. 

Distinguished  foreigners  visiting  America  for  purposes 
of  observation  made  a  practise  of  coming  to  Baltimore  to 
call  at  the  house  of  the  Archbishop,  the  head  of  the 
primatial  See  of  America.  He  could  often  speak  to  them 
in  their  own  tongues.  Not  a  few  of  them  conveyed  their 
impressions  of  him  in  books  which  they  subsequently 
wrote. 

Through  all  of  his  busy  hours  were  scattered  numerous 
devotional  exercises.  He  spent  more  time  in  reading  the 
Scriptures  than  any  parish  priest  of  his  diocese,  and  was 
always  ready  for  the  humblest  duties  of  the  ministry. 
Calls  for  marriages,  baptisms  and  funerals  found  him 
willing  to  respond  if  the  time  could  be  spared  from  his 
necessary  episcopal  duties.  His  discourses  to  bridal 
couples  were  particularly  happy,  and  many  of  them  kept 
his  picture  in  their  homes  throughout  life.  The  sacred- 
ness  of  marriage,  its  responsibilities  and  duties  was  a 
favorite  theme  with  him.  He  did  not  cease  to  emphasize 
that  this  was  the  foundation  of  the  social  structure  and 
his  influence  was  bent  toward  the  maintenance  of  proper 
home  life  among  Americans. 

When  occasion  offered,  he  never  failed  to  exalt  the 
nobility  of  wifehood,  motherhood  and  womanhood.    He 


THE  VERSATILE  REACH  233 

valued  the  judgment  of  women,  as  well  as  their  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  religion.  In  many  households  he  watched 
the  home  circle  spring  up  and  now  and  then  a  visit  or  a 
word  of  encouragement  from  him  helped  to  strengthen 
the  foundations. 

Often  he  said  High  Mass  and  preached  on  Sundays 
and  he  was  foremost  in  Lenten  devotions.  Once  every 
year  he  went  into  retreat  with  the  clergy  of  the  diocese, 
allowing  nothing  to  interfere  with  this  period  of  spiritual 
refreshment. 

The  institutions  for  the  reformation  of  youth  in 
Baltimore  and  its  vicinity  were  objects  of  his  especial 
solicitude.  His  interest  in  children  caused  him  to  visit 
these  institutions  frequently,  speaking  simple  words  of 
encouragement  and  vigorous  common  sense  to  those  who 
needed  his  guidance.  He  did  not  believe  in  severe  re- 
striction of  the  wayward,  though  firmness  he  considered 
to  be  thoroughly  necessary.  His  view  was  that  in  almost 
every  person,  young  or  old,  there  is  much  of  good,  which 
needs  only  to  be  awakened  by  proper  influences.  It  was 
due  as  much  to  his  personal  guidance  and  frequent  aid 
as  to  any  other  cause  that  the  benevolent  and  reformatory 
institutions  maintained  by  Catholics  in  the  diocese  of 
Baltimore  have  been  conspicuous  in  the  front  rank  of  the 
most  enlightened  of  charities. 


CHAPTER  XII 
THIRD  PLENARY  COUNCIL  OF  BALTIMORE 

It  was  as  a  churchman  that  Gibbons  did  his  greatest 
work.  In  the  calling  to  which  he  consecrated  his  life,  all 
his  resources  of  intellectual  gifts  and  the  flower  of  his 
graces  of  character  were  unstintedly  used.  Although  the 
preponderance  of  his  ability  in  the  purely  ecclesiastical 
field  was  obscured  in  the  public  mind  by  the  far-reaching 
nature  of  his  general  activities,  it  was  indelibly  impressed 
upon  the  Hierarchy  and  clergy,  and  remains  for  them  a 
permanent  inspiration. 

The  decrees  of  the  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Balti- 
more have  been  the  chart  for  the  Catholic  Church  in 
America  since  1884.  Under  them  she  has  attained  a 
growth  unequaled  in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  and 
has  made  clear  her  place  in  harmony  with  the  civil  insti- 
tutions of  the  country.  The  organization  and  guidance 
of  that  Council,  over  which  Gibbons  presided  as  Apostolic 
Delegate,  was  the  greatest  constructive  project  upon 
which  he  ever  embarked.  His  was  the  mind  that  con- 
ceived its  broad  outlines;  his  the  vision  that  was  re- 
flected in  its  enlightened  acts.  The  Council  contained 
some  exceptionally  able  men,  and  a  measure  of  the  force 
of  his  personality  may  be  obtained  from  the  fact  that  he 
was  the  master  spirit  of  a  gathering  in  which  so  many 
were  strong  leaders  by  nature  and  training. 

234 


THIRD  PLENARY  COUNCIL  235 

Greater  results  have  flowed  from  the  Third  Plenary 
Council  of  Baltimore  than  any  other  national  council  of 
/  the  Church  held  in  the  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  since 
the  fathers  met  at  Trent,  and  they  have  been  immeasur- 
ably more  far-reaching.  When  Gibbons  planned  for 
America  he  was  unconsciously  planning  for  the  world; 
for  the  Council  received  Papal  commendation  as  the 
model  for  bodies  of  that  kind  that  were  convoked  subse- 
quentl)^  First  the  churchmen  of  Canada,  Australia  and 
Ireland  accepted  it  as  a  pattern  in  framing  their  own  de- 
crees and  then  others  of  different  nationalities  followed. 

Its  work  stands  as  the  perfected  type  of  a  fabric 
of  ecclesiastical  legislation  covering  alike  fundamentals, 
complexities  and  contingencies;  as  an  expression  both  of 
the  universal  aims  of  the  Church  and  of  the  details  by 
means  of  which  those  aims  may  be  realized. 

The  first  characteristic  of  its  legislation  is  loftiness 
and  breadth  of  range ;  the  second  completeness ;  the  third 
adaptability  to  the  conditions  of  the  modern  world.  It 
contains  not  a  single  obsolete  canon.  And  he  who  drew 
this  constitution  became  its  chief  administrator;  no  one^ 
else  could  interpret  it  into  churches  multiplied  and  souls 
saved  as  he  could  do  it.  As  it  was  happy  for  the  United 
States  that  Washington,  the  chairman  of  the  convention 
which  framed  the  Federal  Constitution,  was  the  first 
President  to  guide  the  practical  application  of  that  in- 
strument, so  it  was  happy  for  the  Catholic  Church  that 
Gibbons'  hand  was  at  the  helm  of  the  Church  in  America 
while  she  first  steered  her  course  by  the  decrees  of  the 
Third  Plenary  Council. 

Let  those  who  think  that  the  Catholic  Church  does  not 


236  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

adapt  herself  to  national  conditions — and  they  are  vastly 
fewer  since  Cardinal  Gibbons  lived — and  that  her 
methods  in  America  are  fixed  with  iron  rigidity  by  influ- 
ences external  to  the  country,  reflect  that  the  Bishops 
sat  together  with  broad  powers  and  full  freedom  of  voice 
in  1884  to  frame  regulations  for  the  whole  body  of  the 
priesthood  and  laity  in  the  United  States.  True,  these 
regulations  were  valid  only  when  approved  by  the  Pope, 
but  they  were  approved  without  material  changes.  They 
did  not  alter  faith  and  doctrine,  for  these  things  are  apart 
from  nationality,  and  the  Church  in  America  no  less 
derives  them  from  the  fountain  head  in  Rome  than  the 
Church  in  every  other  part  of  the  world.  But  the  range 
of  the  Council's  decrees  was  far  wider  than  that  of  the 
decisions  of  any  non-Catholic  ecclesiastical  body  of  its 
time  in  America,  and  in  the  domain  of  organizing  the 
Church  in  its  jurisdiction  for  meeting  directly  and  in- 
timately the  needs  of  the  people  it  was  practically  un- 
limited. Such,  indeed,  was  the  amplitude  of  the  powers 
possessed  by  the  American  episcopate,  that  it  was  said 
that  Pius  IX  once  wittily  remarked  when  besought  to 
perform  an  act  which  he  considered  beyond  the  proper 
exercise  of  his  powers:  "Only  an  American  Bishop  can 
do  that." 

It  was  Gibbons'  consummate  handling  of  the  Third 
Plenary  Council  which  caused  Leo  XIII  to  make  him  a 
Cardinal. 

When  the  project  of  the  Council  was  broached,  his  first 
inclination  was  to  oppose  the  holding  of  it  at  that  time. 
He  feared  that  it  would  serve  as  a  pretext  for  a  revival  of 
the  intolerant  criticism  of  the  Church  which  had  marked 


THIRD  PLENARY  COUNCIL  237 

her  previous  general  councils  in  America.  It  would  have 
dismayed  him  if,  when  his  warfare  against  that  blighting 
influence  was  just  beginning  to  take  wide  effect,  there 
had  been  a  new  parading  before  the  public  mind  of  fanci- 
ful tales  that  Catholic  prelates  were  meditating  in  secret 
conclave  assaults  upon  the  civil  liberties  of  the  nation. 
His  memory  of  the  "Know-Nothing"  agitation,  which 
flamed  with  virulence  in  and  after  1852,  when  the  First 
Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore  was  held,  was  still  vivid. 
He  had  been  shocked  again  by  the  chorus  of  alarmist 
voices  which  railed  against  the  Second  Plenary  Council. 
In  his  view  it  was  best  to  reduce  to  a  minimum  new  gen- 
eral legislation  for  the  Church  in  America  when  the 
minds  of  so  many  of  his  fellow  countrymen  were  dis- 
turbed by  varying  degrees  of  distrust  of  that  spiritual 
body,  the  extension  of  whose  influence  over  the  souls  of 
men  in  America  was  his  chief  concern. 

Between  the  Plenary  Council  of  1852  and  its  successor 
fourteen  years  had  elapsed.  In  1884  there  had  been  an 
interval  of  eighteen  years  since  the  Second  Plenary  Coun- 
cil, of  which  he  had  been  the  Assistant  Chancellor,  had 
formulated  its  decrees.  While  these  may  be  considered 
long  periods,  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  Catholic 
Church  aims  at  permanency  in  all  of  its  functions,  seek- 
ing to  build  the  foundations  so  broad  and  deep  that  tem- 
porary currents  of  change  cannot  affect  them.  Arch- 
bishop Gibbons,  knowing  that  means  were  at  hand  for 
revising  and  adding  to  the  disciplinary  regulations  of  the 
Church  in  America,  believed  that  these  means  could  be 
made  effective  without  the  exceptional  step  of  convoking 
a  national  council.     He  wrote  in  his  journal: 


238  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"Jan.  4  [1882].  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Corrigan,  at  the  in- 
stance of  Cardinal  McCloskey,  called  on  me  in  relation 
to  the  expediency  of  holding  a  national  council.  Some 
Bishops  and  clergy  of  the  United  States  have  been  urging 
Cardinal  Simeoni,  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  to  author- 
ize and  recommend  the  council  as  important  to  the  inter- 
ests of  religion.  Cardinal  Simeoni  asked  his  Eminence 
of  New  York  to  give  his  views,  which  are  rather  adverse 
to  the  measure.  I  gave  as  my  opinion  that  it  would 
not  be  expedient  to  hold  a  council  for  some  time  to  come; 
but  as  a  preliminary  step,  provincial  councils  might  be 
held,  or  the  Bishops  of  each  province  might  assemble 
informally  and  consider  what  subjects  might  be  discussed 
in  the  plenary  council.  The  Bishops  of  the  West  seem  to 
favor  a  national  council,  as  some  of  them  have  intimated 
to  me." 

The  demand  by  members  of  the  Hierarchy  of  the  West 
for  a  general  council  sprang  from  the  amazing  material 
changes  in  that  part  of  the  country  which  had  expanded 
proportionately  the  opportunities  of  the  Church.  With 
the  building  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  and  the  rapid 
development  of  other  lines  of  transportation  in  the  re- 
gion W^est  of  the  Mississippi  River,  waste  lands  where 
only  the  Indian  had  roamed,  or  perhaps  an  adventurous 
miner  had  strayed  in  search  of  sudden  wealth,  had 
changed  into  prosperous  and  populous  communities  which 
afforded  fertile  fields  for  the  ministrations  of  religion. 
The  territory  once  embraced  in  the  Louisiana  Purchase, 
and  subject  in  turn  to  the  ecclesiastical  laws  of  Spain  and 
France,  had  become  united  by  the  telegraph,  as  well  as 
the  railway,  with  the  older  communities  of  the  East,  in 
which  precedent  had  been  derived  largely  from  the 
Hierarchy  of  Great  Britain.     Still  further  toward  the 


THIRD  PLENARY  COUNCIL  239 

Pacific,  States  and  Territories  had  been  organized  out  of 
the  immense  region  wrested  from  Mexico  by  the  fortune 
of  war.  Here,  too,  the  ecclesiastical  customs  were  in 
some  instances  different  from  those  which  prevailed  in 
other  parts  of  the  nation,  and  there  was  no  longer  such  a 
separation  by  distance  that  uniformity  was  not  essential. 
Not  long  before,  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Louis  and  the 
Bishop  of  San  Francisco  had  rarely  seen  the  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore,  because  of  the  great  distances  and  the  other 
physical  obstacles  which  separated  them ;  but  now  it  had 
become  easy  to  assemble  the  whole  Hierarchy  for  effec- 
tive and  concerted  action.^ 

Wherever  the  Catholic  Church  goes  she  organizes. 
Her  methods  necessitate  concentration  of  authority  and 
purpose.  The  mission  which  springs  up  in  a  primeval 
grove  is  as  much  subject  to  the  spiritual  oversight  of 
the  Supreme  Pontiff  as  is  the  magnificent  Cathedral  in 
one  of  the  capitals  of  Europe.  The  mode  of  worship 
is  not  left  to  chance,  nor  circumstance,  nor  popular 
caprice;  but  must  conform  to  the  ritual  of  the  universal 
Church,  as  decreed  by  the  fathers  assembled  in  the  pleni- 
tude of  their  authority. 

Although  the  priest  may  penetrate  an  unexplored  coun- 
try; although  he  may  journey  over  wild  mountains,  or 
along  streams  where  untutored  natives  had  never  seen  a 
white  man;  he  is  bound  as  closely  by  faith  and  discipline 
to  the  great  ecclesiastical  organization  of  which  he  is  a 
part  as  is  the  canon  of  a  basilica  in  Rome.  The  language 
in  which  he  may  celebrate  the  mysteries  of  the  Mass  is 
not  the  one  which  he  learned  from  his  mother,  not  the 

^Memorial  Volume,  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore,  pp.  211-22. 


240  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

one  which  may  be  spoken  in  the  locality  where  he  happens 
to  be,  but  the  one  which  has  formed  the  casket  for  the 
deposit  of  Catholic  faith  from  the  days  of  the  martyrs. 
Thus  the  Church  was  spreading  in  1884  in  Western 
America;  thus  she  has  spread  from  the  days  when  she 
began  her  mission  to  mankind. 

The  United  States  in  that  year  was  still,  in  the  eyes 
of  Rome,  a  missionary  country,  subject  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda."  The 
Church  here  had  no  comprehensive  framework  of  canon 
law  which  would  serve  as  an  enduring  basis.  Her  gifted 
doctors  in  Europe  had  framed  such  constitutions  from 
ancient  times,  modified  to  suit  conditions  which  arose 
from  century  to  century  among  the  peoples  to  whom  they 
ministered.  While  much  had  been  accomplished  in  that 
direction  by  the  first  two  Plenary  Councils  of  Baltimore, 
the  task  was  far  from  complete  and  the  necessity  for 
its  full  accomplishment  was  one  of  the  chief  reasons 
which  led  to  the  convoking  of  the  third  Council. 

In  time,  as  opinion  among  the  American  Hierarchy 
crystallized,  Leo  XIII  summoned  the  Archbishops  to 
Rome  to  confer  on  the  subject.  Gibbons  wrote  in  his 
journal : 

"March  13  [1884].  I  left  Baltimore  on  the  8th  of 
October  last  year  and  sailed  from  New  York  on  the  10th 
on  the  Cunard  steamer  Gallia.  I  reached  Rome  Novem- 
ber 1st  in  response  to  an  invitation  of  the  Holy  Father, 
who  desired  that  the  Archbishops  of  America  would  con- 
fer with  him  in  relation  to  the  Church  of  the  United 
States.  All  the  Archbishops  were  present  personally  or 
through  a  representative  except  the  Archbishop  of  San 

*This  condition  was  removed  by  Pius  X  in  1908. 


THIRD  PLENARY  COUNCIL  241 

Francisco.  Our  conferences  closed  about  the  middle  of 
December.  The  Holy  Father  was  pleased  to  direct  that 
a  Plenary  Council  be  held  in  Baltimore  November  9  of 
this  year  and  has  charged  me  with  the  office  of  Apostolic 
Delegate.  Rev.  Dr.  O'Connell  ^  accompanied  me  on  my 
journey  and  was  of  great  service  and  comfort  to  me. 
I  reached  home  in  good  health  today,  thank  God.  The 
clergy  and  laity  had  made  extensive  preparations  for  a 
public  reception  on  my  return,  which  I  declined." 

The  decision  to  hold  the  Council  did  not  deter  Arch- 
bishop Gibbons  from  his  resolute  purpose  to  prevent,  so 
far  as  in  him  lay,  any  active  step  which  might  alienate 
non-Catholics.  It  was  characteristic  of  him  that  if  he 
could  not  accomplish  any  of  his  larger  purposes  by  one 
means  he  was  always  able  to  find  another  way  to  achieve 
the  same  object.  Not  only  did  he  decide  to  bend  his 
utmost  efforts  to  avoiding  an  interruption  of  the  con- 
ciliation of  non-Catholics,  but  he  formed  the  bold  design 
of  actually  hastening  that  conciliation  by  means  of  the 
Council  itself.  Possessing  the  power  of  Apostolic  Dele- 
gate and  being  charged  with  the  supreme  guidance  of 
the  gathering,  he  determined  that  in  its  acts  it  should 
express  a  liberal  spirit  which  would  appeal  to  Catholic 
and  non-Catholic  alike. 

For  this  he  must  needs  depend  upon  the  powerful 
support  of  Leo,  who  accorded  it  to  him  gladly.  In  their 
first  interview  in  Rome  in  regard  to  the  Council,  the  Pope 
had  said  to  him: 

"I  dislike  severe  and  harsh  measures.  I  dislike  anathe- 
mas.   I  love  to  appeal  to  the  good  sense  and  intelligence 

*  After-ward  Bishop  of  Richmond. 


242  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

and  heart  of  the  world.  As  the  Vicar  and  servant  of 
Christ,  I  desire  to  draw  all  souls  more  closely  to  our  com- 
mon Master.  To  all  I  am  a  debtor.  I  have  the  solicitude 
of  all  the  churches  of  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  espe- 
cially of  your  own  great  and  beloved  country,  whose 
spiritual  progress  gives  me  such  consolation."  * 

Foremost  in  the  details  of  the  Archbishop's  plan  was 
his  determination  to  spare  no  effort  that  the  Council 
should  take  a  strong  stand  in  behalf  of  the  position  of 
the  Catholic  Church  as  a  powerful  supporter  of  Ameri- 
can civil  institutions.  He  wished  this  course  to  be  so 
clearly  marked  that  the  voice  of  criticism  would  be  stilled 
in  advance.  It  would  open,  he  believed,  the  hearts  of 
tens  of  thousands  to  the  spiritual  appeal  of  the  Church; 
and  it  conformed  in  every  respect  with  his  own  judg- 
ment of  what  was  right  and  fitting. 

Second,  the  Apostolic  Delegate  wished  the  Council  to 
lay  a  broad  and  deep  foundation  for  the  disciplinary 
evolution  of  the  Church  here  that  would  bring  it  thor- 
oughly and  intimately  in  harmony  with  American  insti- 
tutions. He  desired  that  Catholic  educational  facilities 
should  be  so  multiplied  that  every  American  priest  might 
be  trained  in  his  own  country  and  thus,  to  the  utmost 
extent  possible,  the  overwhelming  mass  of  the  clergy 
would  be  natives  of  the  land  where  they  labored. 

Third,  he  was  firm  in  the  decision  that  every  unfinished 
problem  of  the  Church  here  should  be  taken  up  and  solved 
with  finality,  so  that  there  might  be  no  need  of  another 
Plenary  Council  for  a  far  longer  period  than  had  elapsed 

*  Archbishop  Gibbons  told  of  this  conversation  in  a  sermon  in  the 
Baltimore  Cathedral  in  March,  1884,  a  few  days  after  his  return  from 
Rome. 


THIRD  PLENARY  COUNCIL  243 

between  the  first  and  the  second,  or  between  the  second 
and  the  third  Councils. 

Preaching  in  the  Baltimore  Cathedral  soon  after  his 
return,  he  expressed  thanks  for  the  offer  of  a  public  re- 
ception by  the  city  authorities  and  people  of  Baltimore 
in  honor  of  his  arrival,  which  he  had  declined.    He  said : 

"I  am  myself  opposed  to  such  public  demonstrations, 
and  though  they  may  be  appropriate  on  some  occasions,- 
I  felt  that  I  had  not  the  age  nor  the  merits  to  deserve 
such.  It  would  have  taken  place  in  the  midst  of  Lent, 
and  I  would  have  felt  very  much  mortified  to  consider 
myself  conducted  home  in  a  procession  of  triumph  at 
a  time  when  the  Church  directs  our  minds  to  the  spectacle 
of  our  Savior  conducted  to  suffering  in  a  procession  of 
shame." 

The  Archbishop  in  the  same  discourse  spoke  of  his 
experiences  in  Rome.  After  saying  that  he  had  three 
private  audiences  with  Leo  XIII,  and  two  others  in 
company  with  his  brother  prelates,  he  drew  a  picture  of 
that  Pontiff  which  was  significant  of  their  relations  at 
that  time  and  for  many  years  to  come.     He  said : 

"No  one  can  stand  a  half  hour  in  the  presence  of  Leo 
XIII  without  giving  thanks  to  God  for  granting  to  his 
Church  so  great  a  Pontiff  and  without  being  profoundly 
impressed  with  the  breadth  and  elevation  of  the  senti- 
ments that  inspire  him.  .  .  .  Notwithstanding  his  ad- 
vanced age  and  delicate,  I  might  say  emaciated,  frame, 
the  Pope  is  indefatigable  in  his  labors.  In  my  first  in- 
terview with  him,  he  informed  me  that  he  began  his  audi- 
ences that  morning  at  half  past  eight  o'clock.  They 
continued  until  his  frugal  meal  at  one  o'clock,  and  were 
resumed  and  lasted  probably  until  nine  o'clock  at  night. 
I  was  informed  by  a  member  of  his  household  that  he 


24.4  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

allows  himself  but  little  repose,  and  that  sometimes  when 
the  city  is  buried  in  sleep  the  aged  Pontiff  is  engaged 
until  after  midnight  in  writing  his  masterly  encyclicals 
or  doing  some  other  good  work  in  the  interests  of  the 
Christian  commonwealth.'* 

Regarding  his  conferences  with  his  brother  Archbishops 
in  Rome,  which  had  been  held  at  the  College  of  the 
Propaganda  under  the  presidency  of  Cardinal  Simeoni, 
assisted  by  Cardinals  Franzelin  and  Jacobini,  he  said 
that  they  had  been  characterized  by  the  "most  ample  free- 
dom of  discussion,  joined  with  the  most  perfect  harmony 
and  good  feeling." 

The  Archbishop  also  spoke  of  the  life  of  the  Cardinals 
— his  future  associates — saying: 

"Whatever  may  be  the  pomp  which  surrounds  them 
on  public  occasions,  the  Roman  Cardinals,  especially 
those  engaged  in  the  congregations,  are  the  hardest 
worked  officials  in  the  Eternal  City.  They  are  conspicu- 
ous for  their  learning  and  piety,  and  lead  simple  lives 
in  the  sanctuary  of  their  homes,  and,  some  of  them  even 
lives  of  great  austerity.  If  profound  knowledge  and 
clear  insight  into  character  and  good  common-sense  and 
sterling  virtue  and  unwearied  application  to  the  duties 
of  office  form  the  essential  elements  of  prudent  coun- 
sellors, the  Roman  Cardinals  constitute  the  most  able 
senate  of  any  deliberating  body  existing  in  the  world." 

Every  time  the  Archbishop  went  to  Europe — and  those 
times  were  many  in  the  course  of  his  life — he  came  back 
with  a  firmer  faith  in  the  institutions  of  his  country. 
Dwelling  in  the  same  sermon  upon  his  observations  of 
general  conditions  abroad,  he  expressed  a  viewpoint 
which  had  already  become  characteristic  of  him  when 
he  said : 


THIRD  PLENARY  COUNCIL  245 

"The  oftener  I  go  to  Europe,  the  longer  I  remain  there, 
and  the  more  I  study  the  political  condition  of  its  people, 
I  return  home  filled  with  greater  consideration  for  our 
country  and  more  profoundly  gratified  that  I  am  an 
American  citizen.  When  I  contemplate  the  standing 
armies  of  over  a  million  soldiers  in  each  of  the  principal 
countries  of  Europe;  when  I  consider  what  an  enormous 
drain  these  armies  are  on  the  resources  of  a  country  and 
what  a  frightful  source  of  immorality;  when  I  consider 
that  they  are  a  constant  menace  to  their  neighbors  and 
an  incentive  to  war,  and  when  I  consider  that  the  subject 
of  war  engages  so  much  of  the  attention  of  the  cabinets 
of  Europe;  and  when,  on  the  other  hand,  I  look  at  our 
own  country  with  its  55,000,000  inhabitants  and  its  lit- 
tle army  of  25,000  men  scattered  along  our  frontiers,  so 
that  we  might  travel  from  Maine  to  California  without 
meeting  a  soldier  or  gendarme;  and  when  I  consider  that 
if  need  be  every  citizen  is  a  soldier  without  being  con- 
fined to  barracks  and  is  ready  to  defend  or  die  for  his 
country;  when  I  consider  that  we  have  no  entangling 
alliances;  when  I  reflect  upon  our  material  prosperity; 
above  all,  when  I  consider  the  happy  blending  with  us 
of  authority  with  civil  and  religious  liberty;  with  all 
our  political  corruption,  I  bless  God  for  the  favors  He 
has  vouchsafed  us,  and  I  pray  that  He  may  continue  to  / 
hold  over  us  the  mantle  of  His  protection."  ° 

Archbishop  Gibbons  again  showed  his  judgment  of 
men  in  selecting  Dr.  Dennis  J.  O'Connell  to  assist  him 
in  the  immense  task  of  preparing  for  the  Plenary  Coun- 
cil. He  could  not  have  chosen  an  ecclesiastic  better  fitted 
by  keen  insight  into  the  workings  of  the  universal  Church 
and  rare  comprehension  of  the  true  spirit  of  the  American 
people.    The  work  was  congenial  to  the  natural  bent  of 

'  Catholic  Mirror,  March  22,  1884. 


246  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

botH  and  its  prodigious  labor  did  not  deter  either  of 
them. 

An  outline  was  completed  of  the  numerous  topics  to 
be  treated  by  the  Council  and  the  general  scope  for  all 
the  deliberations  of  the  prelates  in  Baltimore  was  accur- 
ately marked  out.  Upon  the  Archbishop's  return  from 
Rome  he  applied  himself  indefatigably  to  a  continuance 
of  his  preparation  for  the  assemblage,  being  engaged  on 
the  undertaking  every  day  up  to  the  time  of  the  meeting. 

Soon  after  his  return,  he  issued  a  pastoral  letter  ^  pro- 
testing against  the  seizure  of  the  American  College  in 
Rome.  This  subject  powerfully  moved  Catholics  in  the 
United  States  at  that  time.  The  Italian  government, 
under  laws  passed  in  1866  and  1873,  had  levied  upon 
the  property  of  the  Propaganda,  including  the  American 
College.  While  the  title  to  this  property  was  in  the 
name  of  the  Propaganda,  it  had  been  established  and 
maintained  by  the  contributions  of  Americans  resident 
in  Rome  and  American  Catholics  generally.'^ 

By  direction  of  President  Arthur,  a  diplomatic  note 
was  addressed  to  the  Italian  Government,  asking,  if  not 
a  perpetual  abandonment  of  the  intended  sale,  at  least 
a  stay  of  proceedings  until  some  settlement  could  be 
reached. 

Gibbons,  in  his  pastoral,  presented  vigorously  the  jus- 
tice of  the  American  case,  saying: 

"It  cannot  be  called  intermeddling  in  the  proper  juris- 
diction of  a  foreign  government  if  we  use  our  endeavors 
to  prevent  it  from  appropriating  our  property.    The  title 

•Archives  of  the  Baltimore  Cathedral. 

'  Shea,  History  of  the  Catholic  Cfrurch  in  the  United  States,  pp.  373-76. 


THIRD  PLENARY  COUNCIL  247 

of  the  building  known  as  the  American  College  may  have 
been  placed  in  the  name  of  the  Propaganda  for  conven- 
ience and  security,  but  nevertheless  the  fact  remains  that 
it  was  purchased  and  fitted  up  by  the  contributions  which 
you  and  your  fellow  Catholics  made  and  it  is  in  reality 
the  property  of  Americans.  And  the  Propaganda  is  an 
international  institution;  its  aims  are  international — the 
diffusion  of  Christianity  and  of  Christian  civilization — • 
and  it  has  received  no  endowment  whatever  which  was 
not  intended  for  that  purpose.  Three  grave  interests  of 
ours  are  involved  in  the  fortunes  of  this  congregation: 
the  expeditious  and  gratuitous  transaction  of  all  our 
ecclesiastical  affairs  with  the  Holy  See,  the  prosperity 
of  our  American  College  and  the  education  of  other  stu- 
dents for  our  American  missions  in  the  Urban  College, 
which  is  the  property  of  the  Propaganda. 

"It  was  in  consideration  of  the  privilege  extended  to 
us  by  the  Propaganda  of  admitting  our  students  gratui- 
tously to  the  benefit  of  its  lectures  that  our  own  Ameri- 
can College  was  founded,  and  some  of  the  most  distin- 
guished ecclesiastics  that  appear  in  the  history  of  the 
American  Church  and  of  our  diocese  were  students  of  the 
College. 

"This,  moreover,  is  a  subject  that  appeals  not  only  to 
yourselves  and  to  all  your  fellow  Catholics  throughout 
the  missions,  but  also  to  every  lover  of  right  and  of 
humanity  throughout  the  world;  for,  after  the  Church 
itself  there  exists  to-day  no  greater  organization  for  the 
diffusion  of  Christianity  and  of  Christian  civilization, 
or  for  drawing  together  in  the  peaceful  harmony  of  one 
common  family  all  classes  and  varieties  of  men,  than  the 
Propaganda.  Representatives  of  every  clime  are  to  be 
found  within  the  walls  of  its  university. 

"Who,  then,  without  a  feeling  of  regret  or  of  indigna- 
tion, can  contemplate  the  idea  of  such  a  noble  institution, 
after  doing  its  work  of  promoting  'peace  among  men  of 


248  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

good  wiir  for  nearly  three  hundred  years,  falling  at  last 
a  victim  of  injustice?  Even  Napoleon,  who  seemed  to 
have  had  respect  for  nothing  that  could  furnish  him  with 
means  for  carrying  on  his  ambitious  campaigns,  had  too 
much  reverence  for  the  Propaganda  to  despoil  it.  Hu- 
manity has  certain  rights  and  interests  in  common  and 
surely  the  protection  of  the  Propaganda  is  one  of  them.'* 

Meetings  of  protest  against  the  seizure  were  held  in 
the  United  States.  Gibbons  thus  recorded  in  his  journal 
a  meeting  of  that  kind  in  his  own  diocese: 

"June  29  [1884].  Sent  to  Cardinal  Simeoni  a  copy 
of  the  proceedings  of  a  meeting  held  in  Washington  this 
month,  protesting  against  the  threatened  spoliation  of 
the  Propaganda  property." 

The  American  protest  was  effective  and  the  property 
was  restored  by  the  Italian  government.® 

Gibbons  had  devoted  himself  so  unsparingly  to  the 
preparations  for  the  Council  that  when  the  opening  day 
arrived  he  was  near  a  physical  collapse.  He  said  years 
afterward : 

"When  I  started  to  read  the  prayer  at  the  beginning 
of  the  first  session,  my  hands  trembled  violently.  I  was 
a  young  man  then  [he  was  fifty  years  old]  and  I  might 
have  been  expected  to  stand  the  strain  better.  How- 
ever, I  felt  my  strength  and  buoyancy  gradually  rising 
as  the  Council  proceeded  until  I  was  in  good  physical 
condition  before  the  end.  Think  of  what  it  meant,  with 
several  score  of  Bishops  present  and  I,  the  presiding 
officer,  the  youngest  of  them  all!  I  never  stopped  for 
difficulties,  even  if  I  was  dismayed  at  times.  There  was 
a  Providence  in  it  all,  but  sometimes  I  felt  great  weak- 


ness." 


'Brann,  History  of  the  American  College,  Rome,  p.  154. 


THIRD  PLENARY  COUNCIL  249 

As  the  authoritative  presiding  officer  of  a  deliberative 
body,  large  or  small,  Gibbons  was  not  surpassed,  if 
equaled,  by  any  man  of  his  time.  He  showed  the  posses- 
sion of  that  rare  gift  so  that  all  could  see  it  upon  many 
occasions;  but  never  more  conspicuously  than  at  the 
Third  Plenary  Council.  It  was  natural  that  many  dif- 
ferences of  opinion  should  develop  in  that  body,  for  its 
members  represented  communities  as  diversified  and 
widely  separated  as  communities  in  the  immense  domain 
of  the  United  States  could  be.  The  tradition  of  the 
Church  allowed  them  that  full  freedom  in  the  expression 
of  opinion  which  is  permissible  even  in  the  precincts  of 
the  Vatican  and  which,  in  the  clash  of  ideas,  develops 
the  vital  spark  that  fuses  the  predominant  judgment  of 
learning,  experience  and  piety.  When  debaters  such  as 
Ireland,  of  St.  Paul,  Ryan,  of  Philadelphia,  Hennessy,  of 
Dubuque,  Keane,  of  Richmond,  Spalding,  of  Peoria,  and 
Gilmour,  of  Cleveland  could  not  agree,  the  Apostolic 
Delegate  was  able  to  find  ground  upon  which  all  could 
stand. 

In  this  task,  as  all  others  which  fell  to  him,  he  seemed 
to  respond  more  fully  as  greater  demands  were  made 
upon  his  resources  of  ability  and  tact.  With  rare  com- 
prehension of  human  nature,  he  could  say  a  word  in  the 
Council  here,  bestow  a  smile  there,  express  a  doubt  at 
the  right  moment,  and  seize  the  favorable  opportunity  to 
press  a  point.  Although  the  opinions  of  individual  mem- 
bers of  the  Council  were  inevitably  influenced  by  great 
differences  of  initial  viewpoint,  and  it  was  a  "melting 
pot"  in  which  the  diverse  tendencies  of  the  American 
people  were  mingled,  they  proved  that  they  possessed 


250  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

within  themselves  resources  for  the  construction  of  great 
national  ideas. 

The  Council's  principal  function  of  providing  for  the 
spiritual  needs  of  the  people  was  performed  with  thor- 
oughness and  vision.  The  influence  of  Archbishop  Gib- 
bons was  seen  in  the  appointment  of  a  commission  to 
prepare  a  catechism  for  general  use,  which  was  made 
obligatory  after  its  publication.  As  an  organizer  of 
Sunday  schools  and  a  teacher  in  them,  and  as  one  who 
had  been  ardently  solicitous  to  win  converts  to  the 
Church,  he  realized  the  need  of  a  simple  outline  of  faith 
which  would  appeal  to  all  and  be  comprehensible  by 
all.  He  was  a  natural  teacher,  possessing  many  of  the 
pedagogical  traits  and  a  profound  interest  in  the  general 
subject  of  education.  Throughout  his  life  this  zeal  was 
exhibited  in  a  multitude  of  works.  Men  professionally 
trained  for  complex  educational  activities  were  some- 
times surprised  to  discover  that  his  intimate  grasp  of 
such  subjects  equaled  or  surpassed  their  own. 

Another  commission  of  the  Council  framed  with  exact- 
ing care  and  the  labor  of  years  a  manual  of  prayers 
printed  in  parallel  Latiu^and  English  which  is  a  model 
of  its  kind  and  is  the  standard  for  American  Catholics. 
The  Archbishop  to  the  end  of  his  days  continued  to  exhort 
the  use  of  this  manual  both  in  devotions  in  church  and 
those  in  the  home. 

Still  another  commission  was  appointed  to  aid  the 
missions  among  the  Indians  and  negroes,  in  whose  wel- 
fare he  had  shown  especial  zeal.  His  sympathy  was  pro- 
found for  the  pathetic  fate  of  the  aborigines  of  America, 
and  his  efforts  could  always  be  enlisted  in  pleading  for 


rrHIRD  PLENARY  COUNCIL  251 

the  religious  and  secular  education  of  their  modem 
descendants  as  one  means  of  restoring  the  balance  of  jus- 
tice on  the  part  of  the  white  race.  Numerous  institu- 
tions for  negroes  stand  to  this  day  as  monuments  of  his 
solicitude  for  their  spiritual  and  material  welfare. 

Uniformity  in  feasts  of  obligation  throughout  the 
United  States  was  obtained  by  a  decree  that  these  six 
were  to  be  observed  and  no  others :  The  Immaculate  Con- 
ception, Christmas,  Circumcision  of  Our  Lord  (New 
Year's  Day),  Ascension,  Assumption  and  All-Saints'  Day. 

The  pastoral  letter  issued  by  the  fathers  of  the  Coun- 
cil at  the  close  of  their  sessions  expressed  clearly  the 
objects  which  they  had  sought  to  accomplish,  as  well 
as  defined  briefly  their  principal  decrees.  The  influence 
of  Gibbons  was  evident  in  a  number  of  the  most  impor- 
tant declarations  and  in  none  more  so  than  the  definition 
of  the  harmony  between  the  Catholic  Church  and  the 
American  people.  On  this  point  the  following  extract 
may  be  quoted : 

"We  think  we  can  claim  to  be  acquainted  with  the 
laws,  institutions  and  spirit  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
with  the  laws,  institutions  and  spirit  of  our  country;  and 
we  emphatically  declare  that  there  is  no  antagonism 
between  them.  A  Catholic  finds  himself  at  home  in  the 
United  States;  for  the  influence  of  his  Church  has  con- 
stantly been  exercised  in  behalf  of  individual  rights  and 
popular  liberties.  And  the  right-minded  American  no- 
where finds  himself  more  at  home  than  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  for  nowhere  else  can  he  breathe  more  freely  that 
atmosphere  of  Divine  truth,  which  alone  can  make  him 
free. 

"We  repudiate  with  earnestness  the  assertion  that  we 


252  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

need  to  lay  aside  any  of  our  devotedness  to  our  Church, 
to  be  true  Americans;  the  insinuation  that  we  need  to 
abate  any  of  our  love  for  our  country's  principles  and 
institutions,  to  be  faithful  Catholics.  To  argue  that  the 
Catholic  Church  is  hostile  to  our  great  Republic,  because 
she  teaches  that  'there  is  no  power  but  from  God';  be- 
cause, back  of  the  events  which  led  to  the  formation  of 
the  Republic  she  sees  the  Providence  of  God  leading  to 
that  issue,  and  back  of  our  country's  laws  the  authority 
of  God  as  their  sanction — this  is  evidently  so  illogical 
and  contradictory  an  accusation,  that  we  are  astonished 
to  hear  it  advanced  by  persons  of  ordinary  intelligence. 
We  believe  that  our  country's  heroes  were  the  instruments 
of  the  God  of  Nations  in  establishing  this  home  of  free- 
dom; to  both  the  Almighty  and  to  His  instruments  in 
the  work  we  look  with  grateful  reverence;  and  to  main- 
tain the  inheritance  of  freedom  which  they  have  left  uSy 
should  it  ever — which  God  forbid — be  imperiled^  our 
Catholic  citizens  will  be  found  to  stand  forward,  as  one 
man,  ready  to  pledge  anew  'their  lives,  their  fortunes  and 
their  sacred  honor." 

"No  less  illogical  would  be  the  notion  that  there  is 
aught  in  the  free  spirit  of  our  American  institutions  in- 
compatible with  perfect  docility  to  the  Church  of  Christ. 
The  spirit  of  American  freedom  is  not  one  of  anarchy  or 
license.  It  essentially  involves  love  of  order,  respect  for 
rightful  authority  and  obedience  to  just  laws.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  character  of  the  most  liberty-loving 
American  which  could  hinder  his  reverential  submission 
to  the  Divine  authority  of  our  Lord,  or  to  the  like  au- 
thority delegated  by  Him  to  His  Apostles  and  His 
Church.  Nor  are  there  in  the  world  more  devoted  ad- 
herents of  the  Catholic  Church,  the  See  of  Peter  and 
the  Vicar  of  Christ,  than  the  Catholics  of  the  United 
States. 

"Narrow,  insular,  national  views  and  jealousies  con- 


THIRD  PLENARY  COUNCIL  253 

ceming  ecclesiastical  authority  and  Church  organization 
may  have  sprung  naturally  enough  from  the  selfish  policy 
of  certain  rulers  and  nations  in  bygone  times;  but  they 
find  no  sympathy  in  the  spirit  of  the  true  American 
Catholic.  His  natural  instincts,  no  less  than  his  re- 
ligious training,  would  forbid  him  to  submit  in  matters 
of  faith  to  the  dictation  of  the  State  or  to  any  merely 
human  authority  whatsoever.  He  accepts  the  religion 
and  the  Church  that  are  from  God,  and  he  knows  well 
that  these  are  universal,  not  national  or  local — for  all 
the  children  of  men,  not  for  any  special  tribe  or  tongue. 
We  glory  that  we  are,  and  with  God's  blessing  shall 
continue  to  be,  not  the  American  church,  nor  the  church 
of  the  United  States,  nor  a  church  in  any  other  sense 
exclusive  or  limited,  but  an  integral  part  of  the  one  holy 
Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is 
the  Body  of  Christ,  in  which  there  is  no  distinction  of 
classes  and  nationalities — in  which  all  are  one  in  Christ 
Jesus."  ® 

'Memorial  Volume,  Third  Plenary  Council,  Part  3. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
BIRTH  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY 

The  principal  aims  and  preponderant  results  of  the 
Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore  were  educational. 
Through  its  instrumentality  the  Church  in  America  defi- 
nitely outlined  for  the  first  time  the  scope  of  a  general 
system  of  education  springing  from  herself,  leaving  no 
part  of  the  field  unprovided  for,  and  prescribing  steps  for 
the  physical  realization  of  these  purposes. 

Unappalled  by  a  deficiency  of  financial  resources  in 
proportion  to  this  wide  project,  the  Council  framed,  with 
painstaking  care,  provision  for  the  education  of  priests, 
for  the  higher  education  of  the  laity  and  for  primary 
education.  Archbishop  Gibbons  rejoiced  in  his  heart  at 
the  boldness  of  the  step,  and  in  his  deep  faith  could  see 
no  permanent  obstacle  to  its  success  within  the  range  of 
a  few  generations  at  most. 

He  had  already  formed  in  his  own  mind  a  clear  con- 
ception of  two  definite  aims  always  to  be  borne  in  mind 
in  the  diffusion  of  religion  dmong  the  American  people. 
These  were  education  and  the  lifting  of  the  material  con- 
dition of  the  poor.  While  the  aims  to  which  he  devoted 
himself  were  manifold,  perhaps  they  all  blended  into 
these  two  main  aspirations. 

The  foundation  of  the  Catholic  University  of  America 
was  the  pinnacle  of  the  new  project.     In  the  debates  of 

254 


BIRTH  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY     255 

the  Council  of  1866,  the  establishment  of  a  university 
in  which  the  loftiest  ideals  of  the  Church  for  the  training 
of  her  priesthood  and  laity  should  be  fitly  expressed  was 
advocated,  but  only  as  a  distant  goal.  It  was  realized 
that  means  were  lacking,  and  that  the  moment  was  not 
opportune  to  embark  upon  the  undertaking  in  a  manner 
which  promised  its  adequate  fruition.  There  was 
unanimity  of  opinion  that  the  day  was  not  far  distant 
when  the  university  could  be  founded,  and  the  Bishops 
resolved  always  to  keep  that  aim  in  sight  as  the  climax 
of  their  educational  efforts. 

Thus  the  idea  lay  dormant  until  the  fervent  zeal  of 
Bishop  Spalding,  of  Peoria,  opened  the  way  for  its  trans- 
formation into  reality.  This  John  the  Baptist  of  the 
university  project  was  a  Kentuckian  who  had  studied 
at  Mt.  St.  Mary's  College,  Emmitsburg,  Maryland,  and 
also  in  Cincinnati;  but  to  obtain  the  ampler  equipment 
which  he  sought  for  his  life  work  he  determined  to  spend 
five  years  at  Louvain.  Becoming  impressed  with  the 
serious  disadvantages  which  grew  out  of  the  lack  of  a 
Catholic  university  in  his  own  country,  he  resolved  to 
devote  himself  to  the  realization  of  the  project  with 
unceasing  persistence.  Embarking  upon  this  mission, 
equipped  with  exceptional  talents  and  the  ardor  of  com- 
parative youth,  he  won  influential  figures  in  the  Church 
to  his  view  that  the  time  had  come  to  make  a  start. 
Carrj^ing  his  plea  to  Rome  in  1882,  he  obtained  the  Papal 
approval  of  a  plan  for  organizing  the  university. 

Archbishop  Gibbons  was  one  of  the  first  American 
prelates  to  throw  his  influence  in  favor  of  the  decision  to 
hesitate  no  longer  in  this  matter.    When  he  went  to  Rome 


266  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

in  the  autumn  of  1883  to  frame,  in  connection  with 
other  members  of  the  Hierarchy,  the  outlines  for  the  work 
of  the  Third  Plenary  Council,  he  embraced  the  project 
with  eager  hopes  and  with  faith  in  its  realization  which 
never  afterward  wavered.  The  prelates  resolved  to  in- 
clude the  founding  of  the  university  in  their  program, 
and  when  the  Council  met  Bishop  Spalding  was  able  to 
announce  a  triumph.  He  presented  an  offer  from  Miss 
Mary  Gwendoline  Caldwell  of  $300,000 — a  large  sum 
for  the  purpose  in  those  days  before  most  universities 
in  this  country  possessed  the  great  endowments  which 
have  since  come  to  them — to  form  a  nucleus  for  the 
needed  fund.  Her  father,  William  Shakespeare  Cald- 
well, had  inherited  a  large  fortune  which  he  increased 
by  his  own  talents  in  business.  While  living  in  Rich- 
mond, Virginia,  when  Gibbons  was  Bishop  there,  he  had 
munificently  endowed  the  work  of  the  Little  Sisters  of 
the  Poor  and  bestowed  with  an  open  hand  other  bene- 
factions upon  the  Church. 

The  Council  accepted  the  offer  as  a  providential  means 
of  beginning  the  task  upon  which  it  had  resolved  to 
embark,  and  appointed  a  board  of  trustees  to  take  charge 
of  the  university  project.  Archbishop  Gibbons  headed 
this  board  from  the  begiiming  and  remained  its  head 
throughout  his  life,  devoting  himself  to  the  university 
with  unwearying  solicitude  and  throwing  the  whole  force 
of  his  prestige,  resources  and  efforts  into  the  scale.  An 
appeal  was  made  to  the  Catholics  of  the  United  States 
to  provide  the  means  for  the  endowment  of  eight  pro- 
fessorships with  which  it  was  decided  that  the  university 


BIRTH  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY    257 

could  begin  its  work,  and  also  for  the  erection  of  the 
necessary  buildings. 

The  idea  found  favor  on  all  sides.  An  ample  site  was 
obtained  in  Washington,  in  environments  where  the 
university  could  feel  at  home  as  a  national  institution, 
and  where  the  patriotic  inspiration  of  the  students  was 
likely  to  be  developed  most  strongly.  The  construction 
of  buildings  was  soon  begun  and  a  number  of  the  men 
of  foresight  who  lent  their  unstinted  efforts  to  the  work 
in  its  beginnings  lived  to  hail  a  realization  of  it  far  be- 
yond their  expectations. 

Archbishop  Gibbons  saw  with  especial  regret  in  1884 
that  many  American  priests  still  found  it  necessary  to 
go  to  the  great  universities  abroad,  notwithstanding  the 
marked  increase  in  the  United  States  of  schools  for  their 
advanced  training.  The  multiplication  of  such  schools 
that  had  taken  place  would  have  kept  up,  perhaps,  with 
normal  progress  by  the  Church,  but  her  extraordinary 
growth  baffled  calculations.  Priests  who  studied  in 
Europe  returned  in  some  cases  with  ideas  which  were 
not  suited  to  the  flocks  which  they  served.  None  felt 
more  keenly  than  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  that  it 
was  an  urgent  need  to  develop  a  thoroughly  American 
Catholic  university,  one  in  faith  with  the  Catholic  body 
throughout  the  world,  but  in  touch  with  the  spirit  and 
aspirations  of  the  people  whom  it  was  designed  to  serve. 

An  overflowing  tide  of  immigration  was  then  sweep- 
ing in  and  there  was  no  dissent  within  the  Church  from 
the  view  that  the  newcomers  who  were  unable  to  speak 
English  should  receive,  in  the  period  soon  after  their 
arrival,  the  ministrations  of  religion  from  clergj^men  who 


258  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

could  speak  their  own  languages  and  who  could  sym- 
pathize with  and  help  them  in  their  homes  on  an  intimate 
footing.  The  Third  Plenary  Council  went  so  far  in  its 
solicitude  for  them  as  to  decree  that  immigrants  were 
to  be  instructed  at  first  by  priests  speaking  their  own 
tongues.  Thus  it  continued  to  be  true  that  a  considerable 
proportion  of  the  priesthood  was  made  up  of  men  of 
foreign  birth,  for  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  shepherd  of 
by  far  the  largest  proportion  of  the  immigrants  who 
come  from  countries  where  English  is  not  spoken. 

The  real  obstacle  was  that  a  number  of  the  clergymen 
who  served  English  speaking  congregations  were  also  of 
foreign  birth  and  training.  While  educational  facilities 
for  the  training  of  priests  were  still  inadequate  in  Amer- 
ica, this  could  not  have  been  avoided,  as  the  Catholic 
Church  insists  upon  their  rigorous  schooling  in  accord- 
ance with  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent  and  the 
Vatican  Council;  they  could  not  be  content  with  the 
moderate  education  which  often  sufficed  for  clergymen 
of  some  Protestant  faiths.  In  the  century  before  the 
birth  of  the  American  Republic,  when  the  Catholic  re- 
ligion was  proscribed  almost  constantly  in  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  and  was  harassed  to  a  lesser  extent,  but  still 
grievously,  perhaps  more  by  public  opinion  than  by  force 
of  law,  in  a  number  of  the  American  colonies,  virtually 
all  of  the  priests  who  labored  in  the  Church  in  America 
were  foreigners. 

When  the  Federal  Constitution  abolished  discrimina- 
tions and  gave  to  the  Catholic  Church,  as  to  all  others, 
a  free  field  among  the  American  people,  the  fathers  of 
St.  Sulpice  in  Paris  had  hastened  to  send  to  Baltimore  a 


BIRTH  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY    259 

group  of  their  members  to  found  a  college  for  the  train- 
ing of  priests.  This  was  naturally  under  French  influ- 
ence for  many  years.  For  a  long  time  no  resources  to 
found  such  schools  were  to  be  had  in  America  and  all 
of  those  which  sprang  up  were,  from  necessity,  of  Euro- 
pean origin.  It  had  continued  to  be  difficult  to  send 
forth  for  ordination  Catholic  ministers  of  religion  who 
had  been  associated  with  no  educational  training  except 
that  of  their  own  country.  Waves  of  immigration  had 
complicated  the  problem  since  colonial  times,  when  the 
American  priesthood  had  a  French  tinge  just  as  the  clergy 
of  the  Church  of  England  were  of  English  origin.  When 
the  flood  of  Irish  immigration  came  later,  the  priests  were 
largely  of  Irish  birth;  and  as  Germans,  Austrians,  Ital- 
ians and  Poles  began  to  swarm  hither,  there  was  another 
influx  of  foreign  influence. 

Archbishop  Gibbons,  a  native  American,  an  optimist 
regarding  his  own  people,  felt  that  this  should  be 
changed.  While  a  priest  could  execute  his  Divine  mis- 
sion without  being  one  in  social  environment  with  the 
recipients  of  his  ministrations,  he  felt  that  it  was  far 
better  to  have  American  training  for  Americans.  It  was 
also  highly  important  to  have  a  cultured  clergy — men 
who,  while  able  to  penetrate  among  the  homes  of  the 
poor,  to  carry  their  evangel  into  the  nurseries  of  vice  and 
degradation,  could  also  meet  the  highest  types  of  the 
people  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality.  Tens  of  thou- 
sands of  Catholics,  a  host  increasing  faster  every  year, 
were  men  and  women  of  culture,  refined  in  their  social 
instincts,  moving  in  the  best  circles  of  city,  town  or 
country.     The  priests  ministering  to  them  should  have 


260  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

some  polish,  some  versatility  of  education  and  associa- 
tion, some  measure  of  the  general  impulses  of  those  with 
whom  they  came  in  contact. 

The  fathers  of  the  Third  Plenary  Council  set  forth 
in  their  pastoral  letter  that  one  of  their  first  cares  had 
been  to  provide  for  the  education  of  aspirants  to  the 
priesthood.     On  this  point  they  said: 

*'It  has  always  been  the  Church's  endeavor  that  her 
clergy  should  be  eminent  in  learning,  for  she  has  always 
considered  that  nothing  less  than  this  is  required  by  their 
sacred  office  of  guarding  and  dispensing  Divine  truth. 
'The  lips  of  the  priest  shall  keep  knowledge,'  says  the 
Most  High,  'and  the  people  shall  seek  the  law  at  his 
mouth.'  This  is  true  at  all  times;  for  no  advance  in 
secular  knowledge,  no  diffusion  of  popular  education, 
can  do  away  with  the  office  of  the  teaching  ministry, 
which  Our  Lord  has  declared  shall  last  forever. 

"In  every  age  it  is  and  shall  be  the  duty  of  God's 
priests  to  proclaim  the  salutary  truths  which  our 
Heavenly  Father  has  given  to  the  world  through  his 
Divine  Son;  to  present  them  to  each  generation  in  the 
way  that  will  move  their  minds  and  hearts  to  embrace 
and  love  them;  to  defend  them,  when  necessary,  against 
every  attack  of  error.  From  this  it  is  obvious  that  the 
priest  should  have  a  wide  acquaintance  with  every  de- 
partment of  learning  that  has  a  bearing  on  religious 
truth. 

"Hence  in  our  age,  when  so  many  misleading  theories 
are  put  forth  on  every  side,  when  every  department  of 
natural  truth  and  fact  is  actively  explored  for  objections 
against  revealed  religion,  it  is  evident  how  extensive  and 
thorough  should  be  the  knowledge  of  the  minister  of  the 
Divine  Word,  that  he  may  be  able  to  show  forth  worthily 
the  beauty,  the  superiority,  the  necessity  of  the  Christian 


BIRTH  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY    261 

religion,  and  to  prove  that  there  is  nothing  in  all  that 
God  has  made  to  contradict  anything  that  God  has 
taught. 

"Hence  the  priest  who  has  the  noble  ambition  of  at- 
taining the  high  level  of  his  holy  office  may  well  con- 
sider himself  a  student  all  his  life;  and  of  the  leisure 
hours  which  he  can  find  amid  the  duties  of  his  ministry, 
he  will  have  very  few  that  he  can  spare  for  miscellaneous 
reading,  and  none  at  all  to  waste.  And  hence,  too,  the 
evident  duty  devolving  on  us  to  see  that  the  course  of 
education  in  our  ecclesiastical  colleges  and  seminaries 
be  as  perfect  as  it  can  be  made. 

"During  the  century  of  extraordinary  growth  now 
closing,  the  care  of  the  Church  in  this  country  has  been 
to  send  forth  as  rapidly  as  possible  holy,  zealous,  hard- 
working priests,  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  multitudes 
calling  for  the  ministrations  of  religion.  She  has  not, 
on  that  account,  neglected  to  prepare  them  for  their 
Divine  work,  as  her  numerous  and  admirable  seminaries 
testify;  but  the  course  of  study  was  often  more  rapid 
and  restricted  than  she  desired.  At  present  our  improved 
circumstances  make  it  practicable  both  to  lengthen  and 
widen  the  course,  and  for  this  the  Council  has  duly 
provided." 

In  conformity  with  the  principles  thus  set  forth,  the 
Council  decreed  that  more  preparatory  seminaries  for 
the  education  of  clerics  were  to  be  organized.  The  teach- 
ing in  them  was  to  embrace  Christian  doctrine,  music  and 
the  Gregorian  chant,  besides  the  usual  branches  of  pro- 
fane learning.  The  student  was  to  be  taught  to  speak 
and  write  Latin  and  instruction  in  Greek  was  also  to  be 
given,  as  well  as  an  adequate  course  in  English. 

Care  must  be  taken  in  selecting  candidates  for  admis- 
sion to  the  greater  seminaries  and  they  must  be  zealously 


262  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

trained  in  virtue  and  learning.  They  were  to  take  two 
years'  work  in  philosophy  and  four  years  in  theology. 
The  theological  course  was  to  embrace  the  dogmatic  and 
moral  branches  of  the  subject,  biblical  exercises,  Church 
history,  canon  law,  liturgy,  and  eloquence.  Especial  care 
in  the  appointment  of  the  spiritual  directors  and  the  pro- 
fessors in  the  seminaries  was  enjoined.  Clerical  students 
must  spend  their  vacations  in  a  manner  becoming  their 
profession. 

After  ordination,  priests  must  take  an  examination 
annually  for  five  years  in  Scripture,  dogmatic  and  moral 
theology,  canon  law,  Church  history  and  liturgy.  All 
priests  were  to  make  a  spiritual  retreat  once  a  year,  if 
possible,  or  at  least  every  two  years.  They  should  de- 
velop themselves  by  solid  reading  and  study,  and  avoid 
conduct  that  would  raise  the  least  suspicion  of  evil. 

Parochial  schools  were  declared  to  be  an  absolute 
necessity,  and  pastors  were  directed  to  establish  them. 
It  was  held  to  be  desirable  that  instruction  in  these 
schools  should  be  free.  Colleges  and  academies  for  the 
higher  education  of  those  who  passed  through  the 
parochial  schools  were  to  be  encouraged  by  all  possible 
means. 

The  declarations  of  the  Council  on  the  subject  of  popu- 
lar education  were  particularly  noteworthy  as  furnishing 
the  basis  on  which  the  school  question  was  afterward 
worked  out  by  American  Catholics.  The  pastoral  letter 
treated  of  it  as  being  of  supreme  importance.  Affirming 
with  earnestness  that  the  system  of  Catholic  schools  was 
a  prop  for  the  State,  it  proceeded : 


BIRTH  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY     263 

"The  cry  for  Christian  education  is  going  up  from  all 
the  religious  bodies  throughout  the  land.  And  this  is  no 
narrowness  and  'sectarianism'  on  their  part;  it  is  an 
honest  and  logical  endeavor  to  preserve  Christian  truth 
and  morality  among  the  people  by  fostering  religion  in 
the  young.  Nor  is  it  any  antagonism  to  the  State;  on 
the  contrary,  it  is  an  honest  endeavor  to  give  to  the  State 
better  citizens  by  making  them  better  Christians.  The 
friends  of  Christian  education  do  not  condemn  the  State 
for  not  imparting  religious  instruction  in  the  schools  as 
they  are  now  organized;  because  they  well  know  it  does 
not  lie  within  the  province  of  the  State  to  teach  religion. 
They  simply  follow  their  consciences  by  sending  their 
children  to  denominational  schools,  where  religion  can 
have  its  rightful  place  and  influence." 

The  letter  set  forth  with  vigor  the  Church's  general 
zeal  for  education  and  the  usefulness  of  that  zeal  to 
mankind  then  and  in  the  past,  saying: 

"Popular  education  has  always  been  a  chief  object  of 
the  Church's  care ;  in  fact,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
the  history  of  civilization  and  education  is  the  history 
of  the  Church's  work.  In  the  rude  ages,  when  semi- 
barbarous  chieftains  boasted  of  their  illiteracy,  she  suc- 
ceeded in  diffusing  that  love  of  learning  which  covered 
Europe  with  schools  and  universities;  and  thus  from 
the  barbarous  tribes  of  the  early  Middle  Ages  she  built 
up  the  civilized  nations  of  modern  times.  Even  subse- 
quent to  the  religious  dissensions  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
whatever  progress  has  been  made  in  education  is  mainly 
due  to  the  impetus  which  she  had  previously  given.  In 
our  country,  notwithstanding  the  many  difficulties  at- 
tendant on  first  beginnings  and  unexampled  growth,  we 
already  find  her  schools,  academies  and  colleges  every- 
where, built  and  sustained  by  voluntary  contributions, 


264  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

even  at  the  cost  of  great  sacrifices,  and  comparing  favor- 
ably with  the  best  educational  institutions  in  the  land. 

"These  facts  abundantly  attest  the  Church's  desire  for 
popular  instruction.  The  beauty  of  truth,  the  refining 
and  elevating  influences  of  knowledge,  are  meant  for 
all,  and  she  wishes  them  to  be  brought  within  the  reach 
of  all.  Knowledge  enlarges  our  capacity  both  for  self- 
improvement  and  for  promoting  the  welfare  of  our  fellow 
men;  and  in  so  noble  a  work  the  Church  wishes  every 
hand  to  be  busy.  Knowledge,  too,  is  the  best  weapon 
against  pernicious  errors.  It  is  only  'a  little  learning' 
that  is  'a  dangerous  thing.' 

"In  days  like  ours,  when  error  is  so  pretentious  and 
aggressive,  every  one  needs  to  be  as  completely  armed  as 
possible  with  sound  knowledge — not  only  the  clergy,  but 
the  people  also — that  they  may  be  able  to  withstand 
the  noxious  influences  of  popularized  irreligion.  In  the 
great  coming  combat  between  truth  and  error,  between 
faith  and  agnosticism,  an  important  part  of  the  fray 
must  be  borne  by  the  laity,  and  woe  to  them  if  they  are 
not  well  prepared  I  And  if,  in  the  olden  days  of  vas- 
salage and  serfdom,  the  Church  honored  every  individual, 
no  matter  how  humble  his  position,  and  labored  to  give 
him  the  enlightenment  that  would  qualify  him  for  future 
responsibilities,  much  more  now,  in  the  era  of  popular 
rights  and  liberties,  when  every  individual  is  an  active 
and  influential  factor  in  the  body  politic,  does  she  desire 
that  all  should  be  fitted  by  suitable  training  for  an  in- 
telligent and  conscientious  discharge  of  the  important 
duties  that  will  devolve  upon  them. 

"Few,  if  any,  will  deny  that  a  sound  civilization  must 
depend  upon  sound  popular  education.  But  education, 
in  order  to  be  sound  and  to  produce  beneficial  results, 
must  develop  what  is  best  in  man,  and  make  him  not 
only  clever,  but  good.  A  one-sided  education  will  de- 
velop a  one-sided  life;  and  such  a  life  will  surely  topple 


BIRTH  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY     265 

over,  and  so  will  every  social  system  that  is  built  up  of 
such  lives. 

"True  civilization  requires  that  not  only  the  physical 
and  intellectual,  but  also  the  moral  and  religious  well- 
being  of  the  people  should  be  promoted,  and  at  least  with 
equal  care.  Take  away  religion  from  a  people,  and 
morality  would  soon  follow;  morality  gone,  even  their 
physical  condition  would  ere  long  degenerate  into  cor- 
ruption which  breeds  decrepitude,  while  their  intellectual 
attainments  would  only  serve  as  a  light  to  guide  them 
to  greater  depths  of  vice  and  ruin. 

"This  has  been  so  often  demonstrated  in  the  history 
of  the  past,  and  is,  in  fact,  so  self-evident,  that  one  is 
amazed  to  find  any  difference  of  opinion  about  it.  A 
civilization  without  religion  would  be  a  civilization  of 
*the  struggle  for  existence  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest/ 
in  which  cunning  and  strength  would  become  the  sub- 
stitutes for  principle,  virtue,  conscience  and  duty.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  there  never  has  been  a  civilization  worthy 
of  the  name  without  religion ;  and  from  the  facts  of  his- 
tory the  laws  of  human  nature  can  easily  be  inferred. 

"Hence  education,  in  order  to  foster  civilization,  must 
foster  religion.  But  many,  unfortunately,  while  avowing 
that  religion  should  be  the  light  and  the  atmosphere 
of  the  home  and  of  the  Church,  are  content  to  see  it  ex- 
cluded from  the  school,  and  even  advocate  as  the  best 
school  system  that  which  necessarily  excludes  religion. 
Few  surely  will  deny  that  childhood  and  youth  are  the 
periods  of  life  when  the  character  ought  especially  to 
be  subjected  to  religious  influences.  Nor  can  we  ignore 
the  palpable  fact  that  the  school  system  is  an  important 
factor  in  the  forming  of  childhood  and  youth — so  imr 
portant  that  its  influence  often  outweighs  that  of  home 
and  Church. 

"It  cannot,  therefore,  be  desirable  or  advantageous 
that  religion  should  be  excluded  from  the  school.     On 


266  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

the  contrary,  it  ought  there  to  be  one  of  the  chief  agencies 
for  molding  the  young  life  to  all  that  is  true  and  virtuous 
and  holy.  To  shut  religion  out  of  the  school  and  keep  it 
for  home  and  the  Church  is,  logically,  to  train  up  a  gen- 
eration that  will  consider  religion  good  for  home  and  the 
Church,  but  not  for  the  practical  business  of  real  life.  A 
more  false  and  pernicious  notion  could  not  be  imagined. 

"Religion,  in  order  to  elevate  a  people,  should  inspire 
their  whole  life  and  rule  their  relations  with  one  another. 
A  life  is  not  dwarfed,  but  ennobled,  by  being  lived  in  the 
presence  of  God.  Therefore,  the  school,  which  prin- 
cipally gives  the  knowledge  fitting  for  practical  life, 
ought  to  be  preeminently  under  the  holy  influence  of 
religion.  From  the  shelter  of  home  and  school  the  youth 
must  soon  go  out  into  the  busy  ways  of  trade  or  traffic 
or  professional  practice.  In  all  these,  the  principles  of 
religion  should  animate  and  direct  him.  But  he  cannot 
expect  to  learn  these  principles  in  the  workshop  or  the 
office  or  the  counting-room.  Therefore,  let  him  be  well 
and  thoroughly  imbued  with  them  by  the  joint  influences 
of  home  and  school  before  he  is  launched  out  on  the 
dangerous  sea  of  life. 

"All  denominations  of  Christians  are  now  awakening 
to  this  great  truth,  which  the  Catholic  Church  has  never 
ceased  to  maintain.  Reason  and  experience  are  forcing 
them  to  recognize  that  the  only  practical  way  to  secure  a 
Christian  people  is  to  give  the  youth  a  Christian  educa- 
tion. The  avowed  enemies  of  Christianity  in  some  Euro- 
pean countries  are  banishing  religion  from  the  schools, 
in  order,  gradually,  to  eliminate  it  from  among  the  peo- 
ple. In  this  they  are  logical,  and  we  may  well  profit 
by  the  lesson. 

"Two  objects,  therefore,  dear  brethren,  we  have  in 
view — to  multiply  our  schools,  and  to  perfect  them. 
We  must  multiply  them  till  every  Catholic  child  in  the 
land  shall  have  within  its  reach  the  means  of  education. 
There  is  still  much  to  do  ere  this  be  attained.     There 


BIRTH  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY    267 

are  still  thousands  of  Catholic  children  in  the  United 
States  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  a  Catholic  school.  Pas- 
tors and  parents  should  not  rest  till  this  defect  is 
remedied.  No  parish  is  complete  till  it  has  schools, 
adequate  to  the  needs  of  its  children,  and  the  pastor  and 
people  of  such  a  parish  should  feel  that  they  have  not 
accomplished  their  entire  duty  until  the  want  is  supplied. 
"But,  then,  we  must  also  perfect  our  schools.  We 
repudiate  the  idea  that  the  Catholic  school  need  be  in 
any  respect  inferior  to  any  other  school  whatsoever.  And 
if  hitherto,  in  some  places,  our  people  have  acted  on  the 
principle  that  it  is  better  to  have  an  imperfect  Catholic 
school  than  to  have  none,  let  them  now  push  their  praise- 
worthy ambition  still  further,  and  not  relax  their  efforts 
till  their  schools  be  elevated  to  the  highest  educational 
excellence.  And  we  implore  parents  not  to  hasten  to 
take  their  children  from  school,  but  to  give  them  all  the 
time  and  all  the  advantages  by  which  they  have  the 
capacity  to  profit,  so  that  in  after  life  their  children  may 
*rise  up  and  call  them  blessed.'  " 

The  Council  refused  to  condemn  the  public  schools 
and  forbade  any  one,  whether  Bishop  or  priest,  either  by 
act  or  by  threat,  to  exclude  from  the  sacraments  as  un- 
worthy persons  who  chose  to  send  their  children  to  such 
schools  or  the  children  themselves.  Where  there  was  no 
Catholic  school,  or  where  the  one  available  was  little 
fitted  for  giving  the  children  an  education  in  keeping  with 
their  condition,  the  Council  decreed  that  the  public 
schools  might  be  attended  with  a  safe  conscience.  In 
such  cases  measures  to  provide  for  the  religious  instruc- 
tion of  the  children  were  to  be  taken  by  the  parish  priest. 
The  Council  urged,  however,  that  parochial  schools 
should  be  increased  in  number  until  every  Catholic  child 
might  have  the  benefit  of  a  Catholic  education. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  QUESTION  OF  SECRET  SOCIETIES 

Another  question  upon  which  the  Third  Plenary 
Council  bestowed  attention  was  that  of  secret  societies. 
Its  ordinances  in  regard  to  them  were  the  basis  upon 
which  the  momentous  decision  upon  the  toleration  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor  was  soon  to  be  made  in  response  to 
the  urging  of  Gibbons.  In  America,  with  its  compara- 
tive absence  of  restriction  of  the  individual,  organiza- 
tions of  every  kind  had  multiplied  amazingly.  The 
Church  was  bound  to  legislate  upon  an  issue  which  in 
the  days  of  the  secret  bands  of  "Know  Nothing"  plotters 
had  involved  the  gravest  considerations  for  religious 
liberty. 

There  was,  of  course,  no  purpose  to  disturb  any  socie- 
ties maintained  for  a  lawful  purpose  that  was  not  re- 
pugnant to  religion.  It  was  only  those  whose  aims  were 
hidden  behind  the  screen  of  a  mysterious  oath  which 
excited  the  apprehensions  of  the  prelates.  The  pastoral 
letter  of  the  Council  set  forth  definitely  that  the  Church 
by  no  means  wished  to  oppose  the  general  tendency  to 
form  groups.  The  main  outlines  of  the  attitude  expressed 
in  it  were : 

"One  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  our  times 
is  the  universal  tendency  to  band  together  in  societies 
for  all  sorts  of 'purposes.    This  tendency  is  the  natural 

268  "* 


THE  QUESTION  OF  SECRET  SOCIETIES    269 

outgrowth  of  an  age  of  popular  rights  and  representative 
institutions.  It  is  also  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of 
the  Church,  whose  aim,  as  indicated  by  her  name  Catho- 
lic, is  to  unite  all  mankind  in  brotherhood.  It  is  con- 
sonant also  with  the  spirit  of  Christ,  who  came  to  break 
down  all  walls  of  division,  and  to  gather  all  in  the  one 
family  of  the  one  Heavenly  Father. 

"From  the  hilltop  of  her  Divine  mission  and  her 
world-wide  experience,  she  sees  events  and  their  conse- 
quences far  more  clearly  than  they  who  are  down  in  the 
tangled  plain  of  daily  life.  She  has  seen  associations 
that  were  once  praiseworthy  become  pernicious  by  change 
of  circumstances.  She  has  seen  others  which  won  the 
admiration  of  the  world  by  their  early  achievements  cor- 
rupted by  power  or  passion,  or  evil  guidance,  and  she 
has  been  forced  to  condemn  them.  She  has  beheld  asso- 
ciations which  had  their  origin  in  the  spirit  of  the  ages 
of  faith  transformed  by  lapse  of  time  and  loss  of  faith, 
and  the  manipulation  of  designing  leaders,  into  the  open 
or  hidden  enemies  of  religion  and  human  weal. 

"Thus  our  Holy  Father,  Leo  XIII,  has  lately  shown 
that  the  Masonic  and  kindred  societies — although  the 
offspring  of  the  ancient  Guilds,  which  aimed  at  sanctify- 
ing trades  and  tradesmen  with  the  blessings  of  religion; 
and,  although  retaining,  perhaps,  in  their  'rituals'  much 
that  tells  of  the  religiousness  of  their  origin,  and  although 
in  some  countries  still  professing  entire  friendliness 
toward  the  Christian  religion — have,  nevertheless,  al- 
ready gone  so  far,  in  many  countries,  as  to  array  them- 
selves in  avowed  hostility  against  Christianity  and 
against  the  Catholic  Church  as  its  embodiment,  so  that 
they  virtually  aim  at  substituting  a  world-wide  fraternity 
of  their  own  for  the  universal  brotherhood  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  at  disseminating  mere  naturalism  for  the 
supernatural  revealed  religion  bestowed  upon  mankind 
by  the  Savior  of  the  world.    He  has  shown,  too,  that 


270  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

even  in  countries  where  they  are  as  yet  far  from  acknowl- 
edging such  purposes,  they,  nevertheless,  have  in  them 
the  germs  which,  under  favorable  circumstances,  would 
inevitably  blossom  forth  in  similar  results. 

"The  Church,  consequently,  forbids  her  children  to 
have  any  connection  with  such  societies,  because  they  are 
either  an  open  evil  to  be  shunned,  or  a  hidden  danger  to 
be  avoided.  She  would  fail  in  her  duty  if  she  did  not 
speak  the  word  of  warning,  and  her  children  would 
equally  fail  in  theirs  if  they  did  not  heed  it. 

"Whenever,  therefore,  the  Church  has  spoken  au- 
thoritatively with  regard  to  any  society,  her  decision 
ought  to  be  final  for  every  Catholic.  He  ought  to  know 
that  the  Church  has  not  acted  hastily,  or  unwisely,  or 
mistakenly;  he  should  be  convinced  that  any  worldly 
advantages  which  he  might  derive  from  membership  in 
such  a  society  would  be  a  poor  substitute  for  the  mem- 
bership, the  sacraments  and  the  blessings  of  the  Church 
of  Christ;  he  should  have  the  courage  of  his  religious 
convictions  and  stand  firm  to  faith  and  conscience.  But 
if  he  be  inclined  or  asked  to  join  a  society  on  which  the 
Church  has  passed  no  sentence,  then  let  him,  as  a  reason- 
able and  Christian  man,  examine  into  it  carefully,  and 
not  join  the  society  until  he  is  satisfied  of  its  lawful 
character. 

"There  is  one  characteristic  which  is  always  a  strong 
presumption  against  a  society,  and  that  is  secrecy.  Our 
Divine  Lord  Himself  has  laid  down  the  rule:  'Every 
one  that  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light  and  cometh  not  to 
the  light,  that  his  works  may  not  be  reproved.  But  he 
that  doeth  truth  cometh  to  the  light  that  his  works  may 
be  made  manifest,  because  they  are  done  in  God.'  When, 
therefore,  associations  veil  themselves  in  secrecy  and 
darkness,  the  presumption  is  against  them,  and  it  rests 
with  them  to  prove  that  there  is  nothing  evil  in  them. 

"If  any  society's  obligation  be  such  as  to  bind  its  mem- 


THE  QUESTION  OF  SECRET  SOCIETIES    271 

bers  to  secrecy,  even  when  rightly  questioned  by  com- 
petent authority,  then  such  a  society  puts  itself  outside 
the  limits  of  approval ;  and  no  one  can  be  a  member  of 
it  and  at  the  same  time  be  admitted  to  the  sacraments 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  The  same  is  true  of  any  organi- 
zation that  binds  its  members  to  a  promise  of  blind  obedi- 
ence— to  accept  in  advance  and  to  obey  whatsoever 
orders,  lawful  or  unlawful,  may  emanate  from  its  chief 
authorities;  because  such  a  promise  is  contrary  both  to 
reason  and  conscience.  And  if  a  society  works  or  plots, 
either  openly  or  in  secret,  against  the  Church,  or  against 
lawful  authorities,  then  to  be  a  member  of  it  is  to  be 
excluded  from  the  membership  of  the  Catholic  Church." 

The  Council  overlooked  no  department  of  the  Church's 
activities  in  America.  Time  has  amply  attested  the 
soundness  and  permanency  of  its  legislation.  It  intro- 
duced in  the  United  States,  where  priests  had  been  re- 
movable at  the  will  of  the  Bishop,  a  modification  of  the 
system  of  irremovable  rectors  which  had  been  in  use  in 
Europe.  The  Council  enacted  that  every  tenth  rector 
should  be  irremovable  where  the  circumstances  justified 
it,  being  secure  in  his  tenure  except  when  guilty  of  speci- 
fied offenses.  It  decreed  that  a  parish,  in  order  to  have 
an  irremovable  rector,  must  possess  a  proper  church,  a 
school  for  boys  and  girls,  and  stable  revenues  for  the 
support  of  priest,  church  and  school. 

A  candidate  for  such  a  post  must  have  been  in  the 
ministry  ten  years  and  have  shown  himself  a  satisfactory 
administrator  in  spiritual  and  temporal  affairs.  The  ex- 
amination for  irremovable  rectorships  must  take  place 
before  the  Bishop  or  Vicar  General  and  three  examiners. 
Each  candidate  was  required  to  answer  questions  on 


272  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

dogmatic  and  moral  theology,  liturgy  and  canon  law, 
and  to  give  specimens  of  catechetical  exposition  and 
preaching. 

Regulations  were  established  for  recommending  candi- 
dates for  bishoprics  and  as  to  the  appointment  and  duties 
of  diocesan  consultors  and  episcopal  tribunals.  Warning 
was  given  regarding  abuses  incident  to  such  means  of 
raising  money  as  picnics,  fairs,  and  excursions,  and  balls 
for  religious  purposes  were  prohibited.  In  all  churches, 
it  was  ordered,  some  seats  must  be  provided  for  the  poor. 

The  Council  sent  a  letter  of  sympathy  to  the  Bishops 
of  Germany,  whose  people  were  then  groaning  under 
the  May  laws.  The  Archbishop  of  Cologne  replied  re- 
counting the  difficulties  of  the  Church  in  his  own  country 
and  added : 

"We  congratulate  you,  venerable  brethren  in  the  Lord, 
because  in  your  republic  the  Church  rejoices  in  the 
fulness  of  liberty,  so  essential  to  her  and  her  due  by  right 
Divine." 

Complete  harmony  marked  the  end  of  the  Council ;  and 
Archbishop  Kenrick,  of  St.  Louis,  wept  as  he  expressed 
the  thanks  of  the  prelates  to  the  Apostolic  Delegate  for 
the  maimer  in  which  he  had  presided  over  their  delibera- 
tions. He  spoke  of  his  presence  at  the  First  Plenary 
Council,  saying: 

"I  had  never  seen  a  more  sublime  sight;  it  was  not 
this  grand  old  building,  nor  the  gorgeous  vestments,  nor 
the  dulcet  strains  of  the  music  that  inspired  me.  It 
was  that  assemblage  of  men  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, with  different  ideas  and  sentiments,  but  with  one 
common  end  in  view — the  good  of  our  Church. 


THE  QUESTION  OF  SECRET  SOCIETIES    273 

"When  Xerxes  beheld  his  army  of  a  million  men  stand- 
ing in  their  martial  strength  before  him,  he  wept  on  re- 
flecting that  not  one  of  that  mighty  host  would  survive 
a  century,  and  so  of  us,  venerable  fathers,  in  half  that 
time  death  shall  claim  us  all."  ^ 

Archbishop  Gibbons  was  naturally  moved  to  his  in- 
most depths  by  the  closing  scene.  As  always  in  the 
presence  of  a  personal  triumph,  his  modesty  seemed  to 
be  accentuated.     In  his  reply  he  said: 

"Whatever  success  has  attended  my  part  of  the  work, 
I  attribute,  under  God,  to  your  kind  forbearance  and 
uniform  benevolence  toward  me.  Mindful  of  the  words 
of  the  Apostle,  you  have  not  despised  my  youth.  I  have 
witnessed  the  proceedings  of  the  greatest  deliberative 
bodies  in  the  world;  I  have  listened  to  debates  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  the  French  Chambers  and  both 
Houses  of  Congress.  I  have  attended  provincial,  na- 
tional and  ecumenical  councils;  but  never  did  I  witness 
more  uniform  courtesy  in  debate,  more  hearty  acquies- 
cence in  the  opinions  of  the  majority  than  in  the  Third 
Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore. 

"Venerable  Fathers,  we  have  met  as  Bishops  of  the 
common  faith;  we  part  as  brothers  bound  by  the  closest 
ties  of  charity.  Though  differing  in  nationality,  in  lan- 
guage, in  habits,  in  tastes,  in  local  interests,  we  have  met 
as  members  of  the  same  immortal  episcopate,  having 
*one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father 
of  all';  and  if  the  Holy  Father,  whose  portrait  adorns 
our  Council  chamber,  could  speak  from  the  canvas,  well 
could  he  exclaim:  'Behold  how  good  and  how  pleasant 
a  thing  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity  I' 

"The  words  you  have  spoken  in  Council,  like  good 
seed,  are  yet  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  men;  but  they  will 

*■  Catholic  Mirror.  December   13,    1884. 


274.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

one  day  arise  and  bring  forth  fruit  of  sanctification.  The 
decrees  you  have  formulated  will  foster  discipline  and 
piety;  they  will  quicken  the  faith  and  cheer  the  hearts 
of  millions  of  Catholics.  , 

"This  is  the  last  time  that  we  shall  assemble  under 
the  dome  of  this  venerable  Cathedral  with  the  portrait 
of  God's  saints  looking  down  upon  us.  The  venerable 
Archbishop  has  reminded  us  of  our  short  tenure  of  life; 
but  we  are  immortal  I  God  grant  that  the  scene  of  to- 
day may  be  a  presage  of  our  future  reunion  in  the  temple 
above  not  made  with  hands,  in  the  company  of  God's 
saints,  where,  clothed  in  white  robes  and  with  palms  in 
our  hands,  we  shall  sing  benediction  and  honor  and  glory 
to  our  God  forever."  ^ 

The  decrees  of  the  Council,  signed  by  fourteen  Arch- 
bishops, sixty-one  Bishops  or  their  representatives,  and 
one  general  of  a  religious  order,  were  taken  to  Rome  by 
Dr.  O'Connell  and  several  of  the  American  Bishops. 
They  were  approved  and  returned  without  substantial 
changes.  They  seemed  to  have  removed  all  doubt  in  the 
mind  of  Leo  XIII,  if  any  existed,  as  to  who  was  his  right 
arm  in  the  western  part  of  the  world.  In  Archbishop 
Gibbons  he  saw  an  enlightened  thinker  and  an  apostle 
of  the  new  democracy  to  which  he  was  turning  with  hope 
as  the  most  fertile  field  for  the  Church's  efforts.  Now 
that  the  Council  had  erased  ecclesiastical  complexities 
due  to  the  diversity  of  origin  of  the  American  people  and 
had  given  the  Church  in  the  United  States  a  complete 
and  unified  organization  on  which  might  be  made  the 
impress  of  a  truly  national  character,  the  field  of  oppor- 
tunity immensely  broadened.     The  assimilative  power 

*  Memorial  Volume,  Third  Plenary  Council,  pp.  65-67. 


THE  QUESTION  OF  SECRET  SOCIETIES   275 

of  the  Church  in  America  was  to  be  tested  no  less  than 
that  of  the  body  politic;  for  both  it  was  to  be  a  time  of 
trial. 

Leo  and  Gibbons  asked  for  no  favors  from,  sought  no 
entanglements  with,  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
They  wished  only  a  free  and  open  opportunity  to  carry 
the  appeal  of  the  Church  to  the  hearts  and  consciences 
of  Americans  and  welcomed  the  advent  of  a  new  order 
in  which  their  plans  might  be  fulfilled. 

After  the  decrees  of  the  Council  had  been  tested  by 
time,  Leo  expressed  his  especial  commendation  of  them 
in  his  encyclical  letter  of  January  6,  1895,  on  "Catho- 
licity in  the  United  States."    He  wrote: 

"The  love  which  we  cherish  toward  the  Catholics  of 
your  nation  moved  us  likewise  to  turn  our  attention  at 
the  very  beginning  of  our  Pontificate  to  the  convocation 
of  a  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore.  Subsequently 
when  the  Archbishops,  on  our  invitation,  had  come  to 
Rome,  we  diligently  inquired  of  them  what  they  deemed 
most  conducive  to  the  common  good.  We  finally,  and 
after  mature  deliberation,  ratified  by  Apostolic  authority 
the  decrees  of  the  prelates  assembled  at  Baltimore.  In 
truth,  the  event  has  proven,  and  still  proves,  that  the 
decrees  of  Baltimore  were  salutary  and  timely  in  the 
extreme.  Experience  has  demonstrated  their  power  for 
the  maintenance  of  discipline;  for  stimulating  the  intelli- 
gence and  zeal  of  the  clergy;  for  defending  and  develop- 
ing the  Catholic  education  of  youth. 

"Wherefore,  venerable  brethren,  if  we  make  acknowl- 
edgment of  your  activity  in  these  matters,  if  we  laud  your 
firmness  tempered  with  prudence,  we  but  pay  tribute  to 
your  merit;  for  we  are  fully  sensible  that  so  great  a  har-. 
vest  of  blessings  could  by  no  means  have  so  swiftly 


276  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ripened  to  maturity  had  you  not  exerted  yourselves  each 
to  the  utmost  of  his  ability,  sedulously  and  faithfully  to 
carry  into  effect  the  statutes  you  had  wisely  framed  at 
Baltimore."  ^ 

'Encyclical  Longinque  Oceant,  translated  by  the  Rev.  John  J.  Wynne, 
in  The  Great  Encyclical  Letters  of  Pope  Leo  XIII,  pp.  326-327. 


CHAPTER  XV 
ELEVATED  TO  THE  CARDINALATE 

The  golden  age  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  America 
was  now  at  hand,  the  age  'of  Gibbons,  in  which  she 
flourished  to  a  degree  as  unexampled  for  her  as  was  the 
prosperity  of  the  age  of  Augustus  for  ancient  Rome;  in 
which  she  suddenly  flowered  forth  with  a  marvelous  in- 
crease of  her  activities  in  all  directions,  tripling  the  num- 
ber of  her  followers,  doubling  the  number  of  her  churches, 
and  more  than  quadrupling  the  number  of  her  priests;  * 
in  which  she  stood  accepted  at  last  under  the  searching 
gaze  of  public  opinion  as  a  staunch  upholder  of  the  civil 
institutions  of  the  country,  a  tremendous  force  for  liberty 
and  law  and  order,  shunning  everywhere  trespass  upon 
the  civil  functions  of  the  State  so  that  all  could  see  her 
stand,  asking  no  favors  but  asserting  her  equality  of 
right;  a  prop  and  pillar,  second  to  none,  of  all  the  just 
aspirations  that  had  throbbed  in  the  bosoms  of  Ameri- 
cans since  the  days  of  Washington. 

The  master  spirit  of  the  Church  in  America  during 
that  period  was  Gibbons.     Possessing  ample  authority 

*The  number  of  Catholics  in  the  United  States  in  1877,  when  Gibbons 
became  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  was  6,000,000;^  at  the  beginning  of 
1921  it  was  17,885,646,  not  counting  the  number  in  the  insular  posses- 
sions. The  churches  increased  from  8000  to  16,000  in  the  same  period; 
priests  from  5000  to  21,000  and  parochial  schools  from  1500  to  6000. 
In  the  diocese  of  Baltimore,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  number  of 
Catholic  churches  was  more  than  tripled. 

277 


278  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

and  the  full  support  of  Leo  XIII  during  the  most  critical 
part  of  the  time,  he  dominated  also  by  the  force  of  his 
personality.  In  the  eyes  of  Americans  the  Catholic 
Church  was  embodied  in  Gibbons.  He  was  her  type 
and  exemplar  when  criticism  reared  its  head,  and  his 
life  and  works  and  words  were  the  most  effective  answer 
to  criticism.  His  influence  was  felt  as  strongly  in  the 
distant  dioceses  of  the  Pacific  coast  as  in  the  shadow  of 
his  own  Cathedral  in  Baltimore. 

The  irresistible  forces  of  enlightenment,  missionary 
effort  and  patriotic  zeal  which  Gibbons  set  in  motion 
began  to  show  all  their  maximum  effects  immediately 
after  the  Third  Plenary  Council.  In  the  public  mind 
their  amplified  scope  soon  became  associated  with  his 
promotion  to  the  honor  of  being  the  only  Cardinal  in 
America,  which  distinction  he  possessed  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century. 

He  was  of  a  different  type  from  McCloskey,  who  died 
October  lo,  1885,  after  having  been  a  member  of  the 
Church's  most  exalted  Council  for  ten  years.  No  better 
perspective  of  this  difference  of  temperament  could  be 
given  than  in  the  words  pronoimced  in  the  funeral  ser- 
mon over  the  first  American  Cardinal  in  St.  Patrick's 
Cathedral,  New  York,  by  him  who  was  destined  to  be 
the  second,  and  who,  comparing  McCloskey  with  his 
most  famous  predecessor  in  the  See,  said: 

"McCloskey,  meek,  gentle,  retiring  from  the  world, 
reminds  us  of  Moses  with  uplifted  hands  praying  on  the 
mountains;  Hughes,  active,  bold,  vigorous,  aggressive, 
was,  as  it  were,  another  Joshua  fighting  in  the  valley. 


ELEVATED  TO  THE  CARDINALATE   279 

armed    with   the    Christian   panoply   of    faith,    truth, 
justice." 

The  methods  of  Hughes  were  the  methods  of  Gibbons, 
as  America  and  the  world  were  soon  to  see.  As  he  spoke 
those  words  he  stood  on  the  brink  of  battle,  for  there 
was  opening  for  him  a  succession  of  struggles  to  realize 
his  aims  which  might  have  made  faint  the  heart  of  the 
boldest  had  they  been  perceived  then  in  their  full  out- 
lines. 

It  was  evident  that  the  Pope  was  not  to  leave  America 
without  a  Cardinal.  Previous  to  the  elevation  of  Mc- 
Closkey,  little  personal  preference  in  regard  to  the  selec- 
tion by  Rome  had  been  expressed ;  but  now,  overwhelm- 
ingly evident  in  public  opinion  from  one  end  of  the  coun- 
try to  the  other  and  only  less  strong  among  non-Catholics 
than  Catholics,  was  the  desire  that  the  honor  should  fall 
upon  Gibbons.  It  was  in  effect  a  form  of  unconvoked 
plebiscite  in  which  his  fellow  countrymen  registered  their 
choice  by  a  majority  so  great  that  dissent  seemed  in- 
significant. 

True,  here  and  there  local  preference  for  others  found 
voice.  Friends  of  Archbishop  Corrigan,  who  had  been 
raised  from  the  bishopric  of  Newark  to  the  See  of  New 
York,  hoped  that  he  might  receive  the  honor;  or  that  if  a 
red  hat  were  bestowed  elsewhere,  the  representation  of 
America  in  the  Sacred  College  might  be  increased  and 
New  York,  the  diocese  embracing  the  greatest  number 
of  Catholics  in  the  world,  might  continue  to  have  a  resi- 
dent Cardinal  also.    In  Boston  the  wise  and  clear-sighted 


280  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Archbishop   Williams    was   considered   worthy   of    the 
highest  place  in  the  gift  of  the  Papacy. 

Leo  XIII,  always  especially  keen  to  observe  currents 
of  opinion  in  America,  did  not  delay  his  choice  long. 
Archbishop  Gibbons  wrote  in  his  journal: 

"Feb.  lo  [1886].  I  received  from  my  kind  friend, 
Archbishop  Corrigan,  a  telegram  informing  me  that  he 
had  authentic  information  from  Rome  that  the  Holy 
Father  had  determined  to  raise  me  to  the  Cardinalatial 
dignity  and  that  the  biglietto  would  reach  me  about  the 
22nd  of  this  month.  I  have  also  received  congratulatory 
telegrams  from  Archbishop  Williams,  Mgr.  Farley  ^  and 
Mr.  Benziger  ^  The  news  is  not  yet  known  in  our  city. 
Should  the  report  be  verified,  may  God  give  me,  as  he 
gave  to  his  servant  David,  a  humble  heart  that  I  may 
bear  the  honor  with  becoming  modesty  and  a  profound 
sense  of  my  unworthiness;  'suscitans  de  terra  inopem  et 
de  stercore  erigens  pauperem  ut  collocet  eum  cum  priri' 
cipibus  populi'  The  Archbishop  of  New  York  says  that 
the  Cardinal  Secretary  of  State  mailed  the  biglietto  on 
the  8th. 

"11.  Telegrams  and  messages  of  congratulation  are 
pouring  in  from  all  parts  of  the  country." 

There  is  a  break  of  nearly  a  month  in  the  references 
to  the  subject  in  his  journal.     They  were  thus  resumed: 

"March  9.  A  cablegram  from  Wardo,  Count 
Soderini,  announces  the  Holy  Father's  intention  to 
create  me  Cardinal. 

"17.  The  following  cablegram  is  published  in  all  the 
American  papers:  'Rome,  March  16th.  It  is  officially 
announced  that  at  the  Consistory  to  be  held  on  April 

*Then  secretary  to  Archbishop  Corrigan. 
*The  Catholic  publisher  of  New  York. 


ELEVATED  TO  THE  CARDINALATE   281 

12th  the  following  dignitaries  of  the  Church  will  be 
made  Cardinals:  Archbishop  Gibbons  of  Baltimore; 
Archbishop  Taschereau  of  Quebec ;  Mgr.  Feratti,  Nuncio 
at  Venice;  Mgr.  de  Rend,  Nuncio  at  Paris;  Mgr.  Ram- 
polla  del  Tindaro,  Nuncio  at  Madrid  and  Mgr.  Massella, 
former  Nuncio  at  Lisbon.' 

"May  5.  Received  a  cablegram  from  Dr.  O'Connell 
stating  that  the  biglietto  officially  informing  me  of  the 
Holy  Father's  intention  to  raise  me  to  the  Cardinalate 
was  mailed  in  Rome  May  3rd. 

"6.  Received  from  same  a  cablegram  showing  that 
the  Consistory  would  probably  be  held  June  7th. 

"7.  The  Holy  Father  was  graciously  pleased  to  ask 
Dr.  O'Connell  to  send  me  the  following  cablegram:  'The 
Pope  wishes  to  be  the  first  to  notify  you.' 

"18.  Received  from  Cardinal  Jacobini,  Secretary  of 
State,  the  biglietto,  an  official  document  informing  me 
of  the  Holy  Father's  intention  to  raise  me  to  the  Cardi- 
nalatial  dignity  at  the  next  Consistory." 

Cardinal  Jacobini  wrote: 

"The  Sovereign  Pontiff  wishes  in  a  particular  manner 
to  attest  the  high  esteem  and  consideration  he  has  for 
the  virtues  which  adorn  your  Grace  and  for  the  many 
claims  you  already  have  on  account  of  your  merits  as 
well  as  to  increase  the  lustre  of  the  metropolitan  See  of 
Baltimore,  first  among  all  the  churches  of  the  vast  Re- 
public of  the  United  States,  and  on  that  account  adorned 
with  the  honorable  title  of  primatial  See."  * 

The  Archbishop  thus  jotted  down  a  memorandum  of 
the  Consistory  at  which  he  was  elevated: 

"June  7.  Answered  a  private  congratulatory  letter 
of  Cardinal  Simeoni  offering  his  felicitations  on  my  ele- 

*  Letter   of  Cardinal  Jacobini  to  Archbishop   Gibbons,   May  4,    1886, 
Cathedral  Archives,  Baltimore. 


282  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

vation  to  the  Cardinalate.  The  Consistory  was  held  to- 
day at  which  it  pleased  the  Holy  Father  to  place  me 
among  the  members  of  the  Sacred  College." 

Twenty-three  days  after  the  Consistory  would  come 
the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  Gibbons'  ordination  to 
the  priesthood.  That  event  would  have  been  celebrated 
in  the  diocese  of  Baltimore  in  any  event;  now  it  took 
on  a  greatly  enlarged  meaning.  The  Archbishop  wished 
to  receive  the  red  biretta  on  June  30,  in  order  that  the 
anniversary  thereafter  might  be  a  double  one. 

At  first  there  was  doubt  that  the  messenger  of  the 
Papal  court  would  arrive  in  time  for  this  plan  to  be  car- 
ried out.  The  clergy  and  people  of  Baltimore,  swayed 
by  their  affection  for  the  new  Cardinal  and  a  lively  sense 
of  the  honor  done  to  his  city  and  theirs,  had  begun  with- 
out delay  to  make  big  preparations  for  the  coming  cere- 
mony. Cable  messages  were  exchanged  with  Rome, 
whose  customary  calm  was  broken — but  by  no  means  to 
the  displeasure  of  the  Curia — by  the  American  urgency 
to  hasten  the  ancient  ceremony  which  was  about  to  be 
performed. 

Baltimore  has  been  compared  in  certain  rather  striking 
aspects  to  a  European  city;  and  one  instance  in  which 
the  parallel  might  be  traced  is  the  warm-hearted  interest 
with  which  the  people  of  the  city  as  a  whole  regard  the 
Catholic  Archbishop  and  the  old  Cathedral.  Perhaps 
there  is  in  this  an  echo  of  the  story  of  St.  Mary's  and 
the  beginnings  of  the  American  Hierarchy  in  the  days, 
of  Carroll,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  lofty  character 
of  an  influential  portion  of  the  Catholic  laity  there  from 
early  times  has  had  much  to  do  with  the  feeling.    Gover- 


ELEVATED  TO  THE  CARDINALATE        283 

nor  and  Mayor,  merchant  and  laborer,  talked  with  eager- 
ness of  the  approaching  ceremonial.  The  novelty  of 
seeing  in  a  democratic  community  the  venerable  rite  of 
the  investiture  of  a  Cardinal  excited  popular  anticipation 
to  a  high  pitch.  The  city  prepared  for  a  general  fete 
and  wrote  the  name  of  Gibbons  on  the  roll  of  its  most 
distinguished  sons. 

Heeding  messages  from  Baltimore,  Mgr.  Straniero,  the 
Pontifical  representative  bearing  the  red  zucchetto  and 
red  biretta,  accompanied  by  Count  Muccioli,  of  the  Noble 
Guard,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Lee,  rector  of  the  Balti- 
more Cathedral,  who  had  been  in  Rome,  made  an  early 
start  for  Liverpool.    Leo  said  to  them  at  parting: 

"Present  to  Cardinal  Gibbons  our  affectionate  paternal 
benediction.  We  remember  him  with  the  most  cordial 
esteem  and  believe  we  could  not  confer  the  hat  on  a  more 
worthy  prelate.  We  cordially  hope  that  during  his 
Cardinalate  our  most  holy  faith  may  be  blessed  by  great 
increase  of  strength  among  the  Catholics  of  the  United 
States." 

A  fast  steamer  bore  the  messengers  to  America.  Land- 
ing in  New  York  June  21,  they  hurried  by  train  to  Balti- 
more, where  a  large  gathering  of  the  clergy  and  laity 
met  them  at  the  railroad  station.  That  evening  at  the 
archiepiscopal  residence,  Count  Muccioli,  in  clattering 
sword  and  brilliant  uniform,  giving  a  picturesque  re- 
minder of  the  temporal  power  that  was  novel  in  Amer- 
ica, presented  the  red  zucchetto  to  the  new  prince  of  the 
Church;  and  Mgr.  Straniero,  who  bore  the  biretta  to  be 
conferred  June  30,  announced  his  mission  in  the  presence 
of  a  distinguished  assemblage. 


284.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Nearly  the  whole  American  Hierarchy  gathered  in  the 
city  for  the  main  ceremony.  On  the  morning  of  the  30th, 
the  venerable  Archbishop  Kenrick,  of  St.  Louis,  as  the 
Pope's  representative,  bestowed  the  red  biretta  upon 
Gibbons  in  the  Cathedral,  where  Kenrick's  brother,  then 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  had  ordained  the  young  priest 
a  quarter  of  a  century  before. 

The  ceremony  was  preceded  by  an  ecclesiastical  pro- 
cession such  as  can  be  seen  in  no  other  American  city,  and, 
indeed,  in  few  cities  of  the  world.  Since  Carroll's  time 
the  Church  had  been  accustomed  to  hold  her  most  splen- 
did spectacles  in  the  mother  Cathedral  of  the  United 
States.  For  the  elevation  of  Cardinal  Gibbons,  the 
masters  of  ceremonial  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  who  from 
the  lore  and  precedent  of  the  past  had  long  been  accus- 
tomed to  devise  imposing  pageants,  prepared  one  which 
was  then  unprecedented  in  the  country.  There  were  hun- 
dreds of  students  for  the  priesthood  in  line,  and  other 
hundreds  of  the  regular  and  secular  clergy.  Capuchin 
Fathers,  members  of  the  Benedictine  Order,  Lazarists, 
Dominicans,  Jesuits  and  Franciscans.  In  the  body  of 
prelates  who  followed — in  a  Catholic  procession  the  post 
of  honor  being  always  at  the  end,  following  the  Biblical 
rule  that  "the  first  shall  be  last,  and  the  last  first" — the 
herculean  forms  of  Ryan  of  Philadelphia  and  Feehan  of 
Chicago,  clad  in  episcopal  purple,  towered  above  the 
others  like  great  trees  in  a  forest.  Archbishop  Kenrick, 
so  feeble  that  every  step  seemed  to  be  an  effort,  tottered 
along  near  the  end  of  the  procession.  Last  of  all  in  the 
long  line  came  the  new  Cardinal,  bearing  himself  with 


ELEVATED  TO  THE  CARDINALATE   285 

the  simple  dignity  which  seemed  to  fit  him  like  a  garment 
on  important  occasions. 

When  a  Catholic  procession  of  note  passes  in  Balti- 
more, Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics  on  the  streets  are 
accustomed  to  uncover  their  heads  reverently ;  and  in  this 
respect  their  homage  to  the  new  Cardinal  seemed  to 
ignore,  even  more  than  usually,  distinctions  of  creed. 
Within  the  crowded  Cathedral  sat  many  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  of  his  native  city  and  State  who  had 
assembled  to  do  honor  to  him. 

The  Pontifical  High  Mass  was  celebrated  by  Arch- 
bishop Williams,  and  Archbishop  Ryan,  one  of  the  fore- 
most pulpit  orators  of  his  time,  was  selected  to  deliver  the 
sermon.  Both  of  these  men,  powerful  in  the  councils  of 
the  Church,  were  bound  to  the  new  Cardinal  not  only 
by  ties  of  the  closest  personal  friendship,  but  by  deep 
and  unwavering  sympathy  with  his  enlightened  aims. 

The  resonant  voice  of  Archbishop  Ryan  proclaimed 
the  new  prince  of  the  Church  in  the  light  in  which  he 
had  become  known,  saying: 

"Providence  has  fitted  him  for  the  position.  He  is  in 
perfect  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  Church  and  can 
represent  her  to  the  American  people ;  he  is  also  in  entire 
harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  country  and  can  represent 
it  in  the  councils  of  the  Church.  He  knows  and  feels 
that  there  is  no  antagonism  between  the  Catholic  Church 
and  our  political  institutions;  but,  on  the  contrary,  she 
is  nowhere  on  earth  to-day  more  perfectly  at  home  than 
in  this  free  land. 

"On  this  day,  twenty-five  years  ago,  the  present  Cardi- 
nal  was  ordained   to   the   priesthood  by   the   greatest 


286  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ecclesiastic  whom  the  American  Church  has  yet  seen^ 
Archbishop  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick,  of  this  city.  To- 
day the  brother  of  that  great  prelate,  venerable  in  years 
and  merits,  after  traveling  over  a  thousand  miles,  ap- 
pears in  this  sanctuary  to  crown  with  the  scarlet  of  the 
Cardinalate  the  young  priest  of  that  day.  The  former 
prelate  prayed  that  God  might  'bless  and  sanctify  and 
consecrate'  the  prostrate  young  Levite;  today  his  brother 
prays  that  the  same  God  may  illumine  and  fortify  the 
prince  of  the  Church. 

"In  this  Cathedral  where  the  new  Cardinal  was  bap- 
tized, officiated  as  a  priest,  was  consecrated  Bishop,  and 
presided  so  wisely  over  the  late  Plenary  Council,  he  re- 
ceives today  the  highest  honors  of  the  Church  of  God. 
It  is  an  honor  not  only  to  him,  but  to  the  American 
Church;  to  this  great  State  of  Maryland,  which.  Catholic 
in  its  origin,  proclaimed  from  the  beginning  the  doctrine 
of  religious  liberty.  It  is  an  honor  to  this  Catholic  and 
hospitable  city  of  Baltimore,  and  I  rejoice  to  learn  that 
its  non-Catholic  citizens  appreciate  it." 

The  Archbishop  explained,  as  was  appropriate  in  a 
country  to  which  the  ancient  dignity  of  the  Cardinalate 
was  comparatively  unfamiliar,  the  essentials  of  the  struc- 
ture of  government  which  aims  to  make  the  Church  a 
kingdom  not  of  this  world,  but  "visible,  universal  and 
perpetual."    He  said: 

"Behold  that  kingdom  under  one  king,  Jesus  Christ, 
and  His  visible  representative  on  earth,  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff,  with  judicial  and  legislative  departments  spread 
throughout  the  whole  earth,  with  more  discordant  ele- 
ments than  any  kingdom  that  ever  existed,  and  yet  with 
more  union  of  action  and  conviction  and  affection — a 
kingdom  that  extends  further  than  all  others,  and  claims 
the  tribute  of  intellect  and  heart.     Men  acknowledge, 


ELEVATED  TO  THE  CARDINALATE   287 

indeed,  its  power  and  wisdom,  and  try  to  account  for 
both  on  purely  human  theories.  Some  regard  it  as  the 
perfection  of  the  monarchical  system;  others  as  a  great 
republic,  whose  officers,  from  the  Pope  to  the  humblest 
Abbot,  are  elected  by  the  governed,  and  whose  religious 
orders  are  the  model  in  great  part  for  our  own  form 
of  government.  But  the  truth  is  that  the  Church  is, 
strictly  speaking,  neither  of  these,  nor  a  wondrous  com- 
bination of  both;  but  a  new  and  Divine  institution,  a 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  as  the  Scripture  calls  it.  .  .  . 

"The  simple  forms  by  which  a  few  thousand  converted 
Jews  were  ruled  in  Jerusalem  would  be  insufficient  to 
govern  the  children  of  every  tribe  and  tongue  and  peo- 
ple, numbering  over  two  hundred  millions,  ruled  from 
Rome  as  a  center  of  unity.  Hence  we  find  that  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  selected  a  body  of  ecclesiastics  in  Rome 
whom  he  constituted  his  chief  or  cardinal  counselors  in 
the  great  affairs  of  his  kingdom.  .  .  . 

"These  Cardinals  form,  as  it  were,  a  senate  of  the 
Church,  and  what  a  magnificent  senate  I  .  .  .  The  selec- 
tion of  these  counselors  of  the  Pope  is  left  to  his  own 
judgment;  but  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  of  Trent  pre- 
sumed to  suggest  that  the  Roman  Pontiff  select  them, 
as  much  as  possible,  out  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
where  suitable  persons  can  be  found.  The  wisdom  of 
this  is  evident.  The  members  of  the  central  governing 
body  ought  to  understand  thoroughly  the  peoples  whom 
they  govern.  The  present  Pontiff,  who  is  remarkable 
for  his  knowledge  of  the  outside  world  and  of  the  genius 
of  this  country,  has,  more  than  any  other,  perhaps,  acted 
on  this  great  and  most  wise  principle." 

Archbishop  Kenrick,  addressing  the  Cardinal,  said: 

"It  is  nothing  anomalous  or  contrary  to  the  principles 
of  the  Republic  that  we  should  have  in  our  midst  a 
Cardinal  of  the  Holy  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  we 


288  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

are  confident  that  your  appointment  will  continue  to  be 
regarded,  as  it  is  now  regarded,  as  a  new  element  of 
strength  and  harmony  for  all.  The  honor  was  one  which 
American  Catholics  had  a  right  to  expect  on  account  of, 
the  greatness  of  our  country,  the  position  which  it  oc- 
cupies among  the  nations  of  the  earth  and  the  influence 
it  has  to  exert  over  the  future  destinies  of  the  human 

1  aCc*      •      •      • 

"We  congratulate  your  Eminence  on  your  appointment 
to  so  high  an  office.  It  will  increase  your  cares  and  re- 
sponsibilities, but  it  will  also  increase  your  means  of 
usefulness  as  an  honorable  citizen  of  the  Republic  and 
as  a  faithful  Bishop  of  the  Church  of  God." 

The  new  Cardinal,  in  responding,  gave  expression  to 
a  view  upon  which  he  often  dwelt  in  later  utterances, 
hailing  Leo  XIII  as  a  providential  Pontiff.     He  said : 

"I  feel  assured  that  your  hearts  will  go  forth  with 
mine  in  a  message  of  thanks  to  our  beloved  Pontiff,  for 
the  event  we  are  celebrating  today.  It  is  an  honor  not 
personal  to  myself;  it  is  an  honor  which  he  confers  on 
this  venerable  See,  which  you  all  love  so  well,  and  on  the 
whole  Church  in  America.  It  is  a  signal  mark  of  his 
admiration  and  high  esteem  for  our  beloved  country,  in 
whose  spiritual  welfare  from  the  first  day  of  his  accession 
to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  he  has  taken  so  enlightened  an 
interest. 

"God  raises  up  men  in  every  age  to  meet  the  emer- 
gencies of  the  occasion.  He  has  providentially  raised 
up  our  present  illustrious  Pontiff  to  meet  the  special 
wants  of  these  times.  As  the  first  Leo,  by  his  majestic 
bearing  and  fearless  eloquence,  arrested  the  march  of  an 
all-conquering  warrior  and  saved  Rome  from  destruc- 
tion, so  has  the  thirteenth  of  his  great  name  conciliated 
one  of  the  mightiest  empires  of  modern  times,  giving 


ELEVATED  TO  THE  CARDINALATE        289 

back  peace  and  liberty  to  the  Church  of  Germany.  He 
has  been  chosen  umpire  of  two  great  nations  of  the  east- 
ern world;  and  his  impartial  decision,  gratefully 
acquiesced  in  by  their  rulers,  has  hushed  the  clamor  of 
strife  and  restored  peace  and  harmony.'^ 

''Never,  perhaps,  in  the  history  of  the  Church  has  the 
moral  influence  of  the  Papacy  been  more  strongly  marked 
and  beneficently  exerted  than  during  the  reign  of  Leo 
XIII ;  never  have  the  true  relations  of  Church  and  State 
been  more  clearly  enunciated  than  in  his  ever-memorable 
encyclical  letter,  Immortale  Dei. 

"In  no  country  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  does  he 
find  more  loyal  and  devoted  spiritual  children  than 
among  the  clergy  and  laity  of  this  free  Republic.  And  I 
am  happy  to  add  that  our  separated  brethren,  while  not 
sharing  in  our  faith,  have  shared  in  our  profound  admira- 
tion for  the  benevolent  character  and  enlightened  states- 
manship of  the  present  Supreme  Pontiff. 

"Beloved  brethren  of  the  laity,  I  say  from  my  heart 
of  hearts  that  earth  has  for  me  no  place  dearer  than  the 
sanctuary  where  I  now  stand  and  the  diocese  which  I 
serve.  And  how  could  it  be  otherwise?  It  was  in  this 
Cathedral  that  I  first  breathed  the  breath  of  life  as  a 
Christian.  At  yonder  font  I  was  regenerated  in  the 
waters  of  baptism.  Almost  beneath  the  shadow  of  this 
temple,  in  old  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  I  was  raised  to  the 
dignity  of  the  priesthood  by  the  hands  of  the  venerable 
Archbishop  Kenrick,  the  illustrious  brother  of  him  from 
whom  I  have  the  honor  of  receiving  the  biretta  to-day. 
It  was  at  this  very  altar  that  I  was  consecrated  Bishop 
by  my  predecessor  and  father  in  Christ,  the  venerated 
Spalding. 

"We  of  this  diocese  down  to  the  humblest  priest  hold 
it  an  honor  as  well  as  a  duty  to  labor  in  the  sacred  soil  of 

*The  reference  was  to  the  Caroline  Islands  dispute  between  Germany 
and  Spain,  submitted  to  the  Pope  as  arbitrator. 


290  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Maryland,  where  the  forefathers,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  planted  the  Cross  and  raised  the  banner  of 
religious  liberty  and  called  forth  the  oppressed  of  other 
lands  to  take  their  shelter  beneath  its  protecting  folds. 
What  holy  enthusiasm  should  not  these  memories  evoke ! 
What  zeal  should  they  not  arouse  for  religion  and 
country ! 

"May  it  be  the  study  of  my  life  to  walk  in  the  foot- 
prints of  my  illustrious  predecessors  in  this  ancient  See, 
and  in  the  footprints  of  the  first  Cardinal  Archbishop 
in  these  United  States,  who  has  lately  passed  to  his 
reward  and  whose  sterling  merit  was  surpassed  only  by 
his  modesty  and  humility.  And  may  it  be  your  good 
fortune  also,  dearly  beloved  brethren,  to  emulate  the 
faith  and  civic  virtues  of  your  ancestors,  and  to  hand 
down  that  faith  and  those  virtues  untarnished  as  precious 
heirlooms  to  the  generations  yet  to  be." 

Baltimore  expressed  its  joy  after  the  ecclesiastical 
event  of  the  day  had  been  concluded.  There  was  a 
banquet  to  the  Cardinal  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  where 
representative  priests  of  the  diocese,  who  had  been  first 
of  all  to  recognize  in  him  the  traits  of  a  great  com- 
mander, expressed  their  delight  at  his  elevation.  At 
night  there  was  a  long  parade  in  which  Catholic  Knights 
and  young  men's  societies  passed  through  illuminated 
streets. 

The  Cardinal's  prestige  was  no  less  strong  in  the  fash- 
ionable society  of  the  city  than  in  the  demesnes  of  the 
poor,  and  a  group  of  its  principal  figures  attended  a 
reception  given  in  his  honor  in  the  evening  by  Miss  Emily 
Harper,  the  granddaughter  of  Charles  Carroll,  of  Car- 
rollton,  at  her  home  on  Cathedral  Street. 

Throngs  gathered  in  front  of  the  Cardinal's  residence 


ELEVATED  TO  THE  CARDINALATE   291 

at  night,  as  if  to  honor  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  at 
the  height  of  a  political  campaign.  They  called  for 
him  to  appear,  and  waves  of  cheers  arose  as  he  smilingly 
greeted  them  at  the  bay  window  of  the  house.  When 
quiet  had  been  restored,  he  walked  out  on  the  portico  of 
the  building  and  briefly  expressed  his  thanks,  concluding 
with  a  prayer  for  a  blessing  upon  all. 

Again  he  spoke,  almost  with  awe,  of  the  confidence 
reposed  in  him  by  Leo  XIII,  at  the  annual  commence- 
ment the  next  day  of  St.  Charles'  College,  where  thirty- 
one  years  before,  a  youth  just  from  New  Orleans,  he  had 
pursued  his  classical  studies  in  preparation  for  the  priest- 
hood.    He  said: 

"With  respect  to  the  references  made  in  the  course  of 
the  addresses  here  to  our  Sovereign  Pontiff,  Leo  XIII, 
I  wish  to  say  in  all  simplicity  and  in  all  sincerity  that 
the  predilection  which  he  has  appeared  uniformly  to 
evince  toward  me,  and  the  favorable  appreciation  which 
he  has  made  of  what  I  have  been  able  to  do  in  the  cause 
of  religion,  have  been  a  constant  source  of  embarrassment 
to  me  in  his  presence,  and  of  wonder  when  distant  from 
him." 

The  members  of  the  teaching  orders  in  the  diocese,  who 
had  observed  with  some  surprise  and  more  delight  that 
the  Archbishop  had  never  been  too  preoccupied  to  bestow 
attention  even  upon  many  of  the  humbler  details  of  their 
labors  and  to  extend  cordial  help  which  had  been  of  un- 
told value  to  them,  expressed  in  an  especial  manner  their 
rejoicing  at  his  promotion.  They  were  already  accus- 
tomed to  hear  him  speak  words  which  inspired  patriotism, 
and  he  responded  in  the  same  vein  when  a  large  body 


292  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of  the  Christian  Brothers,  representing  the  order  in  the 
province  of  Baltimore,  presented  an  address  to  him  at 
his  residence.     The  Cardinal  said : 

"It  is  a  source  of  inexpressible  satisfaction  to  us  to 
feel  the  most  perfect  assurance  of  how  free  from  friction 
are  the  relations  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  the  giant 
republic  of  the  West.  It  proves  the  elasticity,  if  we  may 
so  speak,  of  Catholic  doctrine.  It  proves  that  it  is  Catho- 
lic indeed,  and  has  the  capacity  to  adapt  itself  to  all  that 
is  good  in  the  many  forms  of  governments  and  persons. 
Breathing  the  pure  air  of  liberty,  the  Church  expands 
with  her  finest  strength,  and  grows  in  beauty  and  power. 

"We  would  find  yet  more  occasion  to  approve  and  love 
her  if  we  could  contrast  her  state  here  with  her  condition 
in  other  countries  less  happy  in  their  government  and 
laws.  Here  the  government  extends  over  us  the  aegis 
of  equal  laws  without  interfering  with  the  just  rights 
of  any. 

"How  much  can  you  not  accomplish,  dear  brothers,  in 
that  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  displayed  by  you  in  so  many 
fields  of  untiring  effort  I  We  see  around  us  now  the 
monuments  of  those  labors  in  the  many  young  men  reared 
in  the  faith,  in  intelligence  and  learning,  fitted  for  the 
duties  of  citizenship,  making  them  noble  representatives 
of  the  State  of  Maryland.  You  carry  out  the  principles 
of  your  founder,  or  rather,  of  the  Gospel,  for,  after  all, 
everything  must  be  referred  to  the  Gospel.  The  secret 
of  your  success  is  found  in  humility,  piety  and  intelli- 
gence; they  form  a  triple  cord  which  cannot  be  broken. 
Acting  upon  these  principles  in  molding  the  minds, 
hearts  and  souls  of  youth,  you  do  more  than  Michel- 
angelo, whose  genius  brought  out  those  beautiful  images 
in  marble  or  on  canvas  which  have  for  centuries  been 
the  admiration  and  delight  of  every  land  and  people. 

"It  is  not  a  slight  debt  that  this  archdiocese  and  this 


ELEVATED  TO  THE  CARDINALATE   293 

great  city  of  Baltimore — the  first  great  field  of  your 
labors  in  this  country — owe  you.  The  clergy  have  ex- 
perienced the  benefit  of  your  labors.  You  have  many 
reasons  to  be  proud  of  your  mission  in  this  archdiocese, 
for  that  mission  is  the  high  one  of  instilling  virtue  into 
young  hearts  and  training  their  minds  in  knowledge." 

The  transformation  of  public  opinion  toward  the 
Church  which  the  Cardinal  had  already  set  in  motion, 
and  which  was  soon  to  be  even  more  strikingly  evident, 
was  plainly  disclosed  by  the  press.  Up  to  that  time  the 
newspapers  of  the  country  which  were  controlled  by  non- 
Catholics — and  most  of  them  were  in  that  category — 
had  seldom  commented  upon  events  relating  to  the 
Church.  Perhaps  this  was  due  in  part  to  a  wish  not  to 
trespass  on  a  field  in  which  comment  might  not  be  wel- 
comed; but  it  was  partly  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  a  barrier,  whose  origin  no  man  could  define  exactly 
unless  recourse  were  had  to  ancient  causes,  had  seemed  to 
exist  between  the  Catholic  Church  as  an  ecclesiastical 
structure,  represented  by  the  general  body  of  her 
Hierarchy,  and  the  mass  of  non-Catholic  interests  in  the 
United  States. 

Restraint  was  now  thrown  off  and  from  one  end  of  the 
country  to  the  other  newspapers  of  all  shades  of  political 
belief,  whose  owners  and  editors  were  of  different  re- 
ligious creeds,  commented  upon  the  elevation  of  Gibbons 
as  an  honor  to  their  country  and  an  augury  of  hap^y 
relations  between  the  Catholic  Church  and  American  in- 
stitutions. The  new  Cardinal  had  not  yet  risen  to  the 
full  height  of  his  popularity;  but  already  some  knowledge 
of  the  traits  which  distinguished  him  as  a  man  and  a 


294  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

prelate  had  penetrated  wherever  Americans  were.  The 
newspapers  saw  in  his  selection  for  the  Sacred  College  a 
recognition  of  the  most  progressive  tendencies  in  the 
Catholic  Church  in  America,  and  a  hopeful  sign  of  a 
complete  understanding  of  the  United  States  by  the 
leaders  of  the  Church  in  Europe.  They  felt  that  as  an 
American  by  birth  and  training,  no  less  than  by  sympathy 
and  aspiration,  he  was  exceptionally  fitted  to  represent 
this  country  in  the  highest  councils  at  Rome. 

More  than  that,  these  journals  began  to  open  their 
columns  to  news  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Hitherto  there 
had  been  distrust  on  both  sides;  many  of  the  clergy  had 
felt  that  newspapers  were  inspired  by  misunderstanding, 
if  not  bigotry,  and  were  obstructive  of  their  work;  and 
many  of  the  newspapers,  on  their  part,  had  been  at  least 
not  disposed  to  assist  where  their  help  seemed  not  to  be 
desired.  Now  the  differences  began  to  disappear. 
Cordiality  took  the  place  of  suspicion.  News  of  the 
Catholic  Church  had  never  been  barred  from  any  impor- 
tant American  newspaper,  but  little  of  it  had  been 
printed.  At  first  some,  then  a  great  many,  journals  began 
to  solicit  it  and  print  it  with  as  little  hesitation  as  they 
solicited  and  printed  the  news  of  non-Catholic  religious 
work. 

In  a  country  where  the  newspapers  exercise  so  power- 
ful an  influence  upon  the  general  mental  attitude  of  the 
people  as  in  America,  the  results  must  be  obvious.  The 
new  relation  which  thus  came  into  being  was  of  immense 
value  in  removing  causes  of  that  intolerance  concerning 
religion  which  it  was  one  of  the  overwhelming  desires 
of  Cardinal  Gibbons  to  combat  to  the  death. 


ELEVATED  TO  THE  CARDINALATE        295 

The  favor  with  which  Gibbons  was  regarded  by  Leo 
XIII  was  welcomed  by  many  newspapers  as  a  great 
benefit  to  America,  The  venerable  Pontiff  was  then  well 
past  three  score  and  ten;  none  could  foresee  the  remark- 
able age  to  which  Providence  was  destined  to  spare  him. 
Least  of  all  was  it  known  how  far  Leo  would  go  in  en- 
abling Gibbons  to  carry  out  his  broad  designs  for  the^ 
extension  of  religion  and  the  rescue  of  millions  held  down 
by  the  weight  of  economic  injustice. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
SETTING  THE  LARGER  TASK 

The  new  Cardinal  hailed  in  his  larger  relation  to  the 
Church  and  the  world  an  opportunity  for  translating  into 
action  many  ideas  which  had  been  taking  shape  in  his 
mind.  He  did  not  look  upon  his  new  office  as  merely 
imposing  an  additional  burden  of  responsibility,  for  the 
greater  the  responsibility  that  came  to  him,  the  greater 
seemed  his  ease,  poise  and  capacity  to  meet  its  require- 
ments. Least  of  all  did  he  consider  it  in  the  empty  aspect 
of  a  personal  honor,  for  he  had  given  ample  evidence  of 
his  willingness,  from  the  day  he  entered  the  priesthood, 
to  labor  in  an  obscure  field  if  Providence  should  so  allot; 
his  destiny.  His  chief  concern  was  not  that  he  might 
have  to  do  too  much,  but  that  he  should  not  fail  to  stretch 
the  opportunity  to  the  utmost  limit  in  the  execution  of 
the  broad  policy  which  he  now  proceeded  to  formulate. 

The  essentials  of  this  policy  had  already  become 
clearly  defined  in  his  own  conceptions,  but  before  adopt- 
ing them  fully  he  decided  to  fortify  himself  with  advice. 
With  thoroughness  of  plan,  he  sought  to  draw  opinions 
from  such  a  variety  of  sources  that  he  would  have  no 
doubt  of  his  own  conclusions.  Possessing  a  singular 
capability  for  understanding  others,  and  particularly  for 
understanding  deep  men  whose  thoughts  seemed  baffling 
to  some,  he  proceeded. 

He  had  been  buoyed  up  by  a  comprehension  of  the 

296 


SETTING  THE  LARGER  TASK  297 

enlighted  views  of  Leo  XIII  from  the  time  of  their  con- 
versations in  Rome  six  years  before.  His  impressions 
then  gained  had  been  amplified  and  fortified  by  corre- 
spondence with  Leo,  and  he  had  sounded  the  opinions 
of  Cardinals  in  Europe.  With  brother  Bishops  in  Amer- 
ica he  also  took  counsel. 

His  plans,  he  knew,  reached  far  outside  the  Church, 
though  originating  within  it  and  operating  from  it  as 
the  visible  fountain  of  his  inspiration  and  his  authority. 
He  therefore  consulted  Americans  in  different  walks  of 
life,  statesmen  in  Washington,  laymen  of  prominence  and 
vision,  priests  upon  whom  he  relied;  even  some  persons 
who  filled  humbler  roles  in  life.  From  all  of  these  he 
gained  impressions  of  what  the  Church,  the  world  and 
America  needed.  His  aims,  rooted  deep  in  his  Catholic 
faith,  was  service  to  men,  and  his  policy  was  to  be  a 
policy  of  service. 

Once  resolved  in  his  own  mind  as  to  how  to  go  on,  he 
never  wavered.  Even  before  the  insignia  of  the  Cardi- 
nalate  had  been  bestowed  upon  him,  he  had  reached  that 
point.  Consistency  of  view,  marked  by  a  persistence 
which  nothing  could  break,  was  one  of  his  traits.  He 
ended  all  debate  with  himself  and  proceeded  to  the  stage 
of  accomplishment. 

His  primary  aim  was  that  the  Church  should  adapt  her- 
self to  the  fullest  extent  to  the  American  democracy,  for 
he  believed  that  the  cause  of  religion  in  the  United  States 
was  bound  up  with  the  cause  of  democracy.  He  shared 
the  view  of  Leo  that  democracy  was  the  coming  form 
of  government,  and  that  kingdoms  and  principalities 
which  then  retained  their  power  by  the  defiant  assertion 


298  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of  prerogative  were  soon  to  topple.  The  Church,  in  Leo's 
view  and  Gibbons',  must  recognize  the  new  condition 
without  waiting  for  the  completion  of  the  wide  changes 
which  were  impending.  It  was  not  for  her  to  uphold 
any  particular  form  of  civil  government,  least  of  all  to 
steady  it  with  supporting  hand  when  it  tottered  from 
weakness  and  decay,  but  to  cooperate  with  men  on  the 
basis  of  their  own  best  enlightenment  and  the  inevitable 
tendencies  in  political  life. 

While  Leo's  conceptions  on  this  subject  were  as  broad 
as  the  domain  of  the  Church  herself,  the  chief  concern  of 
Gibbons  was  for  his  own  country.  As  a  leader  in 
the  greatest  of  all  democracies,  measured  by  numbers 
and  material  resources,  he  could  cooperate  with  Leo. 
New  conditions  in  Europe,  he  firmly  believed,  wer^. 
echoes  of  the  "shot  heard  'round  the  world"  that  had  been 
fired  at  Lexington.  As  the  impulse  for  the  political 
changes  which  had  been  operating  in  Europe  for  more, 
than  a  century  had  come  from  America,  so  also  America 
had  been  the  exemplar  to  the  world  in  the  gradual  evolu- 
tion which  had  taken  place.  For  democracy  to  fail  in 
the  United  States,  for  it  to  be  hampered  or  obstructed, 
or  even  distrusted,  would  be,  in  the  opinion  of  Gibbons, 
an  incalculable  misfortune  and  a  setback  to  the  progress 
of  civilization. 

One  of  the  most  powerful  forces  which  could  con- 
tribute to  the  orderly  progress  of  free  government  on  the 
American  continent  was  the  Catholic  Church.  Gibbons 
felt  that  this  cooperation  could  be  accomplished  best  by 
a  full  acknowledgment  of  and  thorough  acquiescence  in 
the  American  system  as  the  constituted  civic  authority 


SETTING  THE  LARGER  TASK  299 

chosen  by  the  people ;  and  that  by  the  cultivation  of  the 
American  character,  through  the  uplifting  and  steadying 
influences  of  religion,  means  would  be  afforded  for  the 
working  out  of  all  the  problems  which  the  people  must 
face. 

In  his  opinion,  no  union  of  Church  and  State  in  Amer- 
ica was  practicable  or  even  desirable.  With  each  su- 
preme in  its  own  sphere,  he  believed  that  the  Church 
would  receive  here,  in  reality,  the  most  powerful  protec- 
tion accorded  her  anywhere  in  the  world.  Above  all,  he 
felt  that  her  appeal  to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of 
Americans  would  be  vain  unless  it  could  be  made  clear 
that  the  mass  of  Catholics  in  this  country  accepted,  with 
complete  accord,  the  civil  institutions  under  which  they 
lived,  and  unless  the  Church  herself,  through  her  Hier- 
archy no  less  than  her  priesthood  and  laity,  was  a  power- 
ful upholder  of  those  institutions.  He  wished  the  Church 
in  America  to  be  as  American  as  the  Constitution  itself, 
spurning  interference  in  political  affairs  and  pursuing  her 
spiritual  mission  with  serenity  in  the  full  confidence  of 
vindication  by  the  public  judgment. 

Religion  and  dem.ocracy  would  be  alike  endangered, 
the  new  Cardinal  also  held,  by  any  further  development 
of  those  paroxysms  of  intolerance  which  were  a  danger 
in  an  especial  sense  to  a  nation  made  up  in  part  of  con- 
flicting foreign  elements  in  whose  original  home  lands 
the  complete  religious  freedom  of  America  was  not  com- 
prehended. He  knew  that  grave  clashes  of  opinion  on 
many  subjects  were  inevitable  in  a  republic.  So  long  as 
they  were  confined  to  genuine  differences  on  measures  of 
public  concern,  he  welcomed  them  as  clearing  the  atmos- 


300  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

phere  by  means  of  free  discussion;  but  if,  as  had  already 
been  the  case  in  "Know  Nothing"  times,  there  should  be 
another  political  party  which  would  seek  to  proscribe 
members  of  any  religious  faith,  he  felt  that  the  orderly 
progress  of  the  nation  toward  the  realization  of  its  own 
best  hopes  would  be  thwarted.  Intolerance  in  religion, 
therefore,  was  a  foe  to  be  fought  by  all,  as  it  endangered 
not  only  the  cause  of  religion,  but  the  cause  of  free  insti- 
tutions in  their  chief  stronghold. 

To  the  Cardinal  it  seemed  impossible  that  the  spread  of 
democratic  government  over  the  world,  with  its  wide 
opening  of  the  quickened  minds  of  the  people  to  the 
spiritual  influences  of  religion,  could  be  attained  without 
immense  sacrifice  unless  there  could  be  a  lifting  up  of 
men  toward  equality  of  opportunity.  In  political  equal- 
ity merely  as  a  dictum  he  could  not  see  any  permanent 
relief  from  the  ills  of  mankind.  In  his  own  country,  as 
throughout  the  world  wherever  free  institutions  took 
root,  men  who  were  entitled  to  vote  upon  the  highest  con- 
cerns of  the  State  must  have  the  opportunity  to  prepare 
themselves  for  that  solemn  duty. 

In  particular,  the  Cardinal  felt  that  a  battle  must  be 
waged  for  the  true  interests  of  labor,  that  it  might  be 
equipped  for  its  full  part  under  the  new  dispensation.  It 
could  no  longer  be  repressed  as  it  has  been  for  centuries, 
during  which  it  had  been  denied  a  full  share  of  partici- 
pation in  civil  government;  as  the  masses  demanded 
equal  rights,  and  as  they  were  to  exercise  them,  they 
must  have  opportunities  for  education,  for  acquiring 
a  sufficient  degree  of  the  comforts  of  life  to  enable 
them  to  maintain  homes  in  which  Christian  principles, 


SETTING  THE  LARGER  TASK  301 

and  principles  of  political  virtue  as  well,  should  guide 
the  family. 

Radicalism,  with  its  ill-considered  panaceas,  he  ab- 
horred as  the  greatest  danger  of  all,  but  between  this  and 
the  general  recognition  of  labor's  just  rights  he  saw 
the  widest  difference.  He  stood  for  the  recognition  and 
elevation  of  labor  as  one  of  the  strongest  props  which 
the  Church  in  her  spiritual  efforts,  and  the  State  in  its 
civic  efforts,  could  possess. 

Another  article  of  his  public  creed  fully  shared  by  the 
Pontiff  was  that  the  reasonable  assertion  of  nationalism 
must  not  be  stifled.  The  Church,  he  held,  must  compre- 
hend American  national  traits  and  take  them  into  account 
in  delivering  her  message  to  the  body  of  the  people. 
Some  of  these  traits  were  of  the  greatest  use  to  the 
cause  of  religion  as  giving  a  foundation  for  the  diffusion 
of  the  faith.  When  nationalism  took  an  aggressive  guise, 
it  was,  of  course,  to  be  discouraged.  A  conquering  na- 
tion which  might  reduce  others  to  vassalage  would  require 
the  Church  again  to  deal  with  the  arbitrary  wills  of  small 
groups  of  individuals,  rather  than  with  the  great  heart 
of  humanity  as  a  whole. 

The  Cardinal's  view  that  the  American  people,  as  they 
had  been  organized  in  their  own  forms  of  political  devel- 
opment, constituted  the  most  fruitful  field  for  the  appeal 
of  the  Church,  was  amply  sustained  by  the  unexampled 
accessions  to  her  numbers  in  the  country  during  his  life. 

It  was  not  in  him  to  wait  for  these  tasks  to  be  under- 
taken one  after  another,  and  he  formed  the  bold  decision 
to  embark  upon  all  of  them  at  once.  To'  lay  the  ground- 
work of  one  of  his  campaigns  carefully,  to  carry  it  to  a 


302  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

conclusion  and  then  to  attempt  others  in  succession, 
would  have  required  more  than  the  normal  span  of  one 
life,  and  certainly  a  longer  span  than  appeared  at  that 
time  to  open  before  him.  He  did  not  stop  at  any  time 
to  think  how  long  he  might  live,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
seemed  to  be  utterly  indifferent  to  that  subject  in  later 
years.  Yet  it  would  scarcely  have  occurred  to  any  close 
observer  familiar  with  his  physique  and  the  excessive 
strains  which  he  almost  constantly  imposed  upon  it  that 
he  would  survive  to  the  age  of  nearly  eighty-seven. 
There  was  no  sign  of  any  weakening  of  the  organic  sound- 
ness which  he  possessed,  but  his  body  continued  to  appear 
frail  and  there  was  always  the  danger  that  ceaseless  ap- 
plication to  his  work  would  undermine  his  health  gravely. 
His  concern  was  not  for  himself,  but  for  what  he  could 
do  for  others  in  the  span  allotted  to  him. 

Once  resolved  in  his  own  mind  as  to  how  to  proceed, 
he  discarded  all  considerations  that  militated  against 
the  prosecution  of  his  plans.  There  was  wonderful  deter- 
mination in  his  make-up.  While  disposed  to  concede  and 
conciliate  to  the  utmost  extent  possible,  going  sometimes 
in  these  respects  far  beyond  the  ordinary  range  which 
human  nature  seems  to  leave  open  to  the  average  man,  he 
was,  nevertheless,  as  unbending  as  a  bar  of  steel  in  the 
pursuit  of  objects  which  he  deemed  essential.  He  had  no 
doubt  of  the  necessity  of  his  work.  This  being  a  fixed 
quantity  in  his  mind,  action  came  next. 

A  man  of  ordinary  temper  would  have  been  appalled 
by  the  difficulties  and  perplexities  of  carrying  on  simul- 
taneously the  number  of  big  projects  which  he  had  de- 
cided to  execute.     For  him  the  greatness  of  the  under- 


SETTING  THE  LARGER  TASK  303 

taking  was  only  a  stimulus.  No  demand  was  ever  made 
upon  the  resources  of  his  mind  which  he  did  not  seem 
able  to  meet  with  ease. 

The  results  which  he  sought  were  to  be  accomplished 
chiefly  within  the  secluded  field  of  the  Church's  inner 
councils.  He  must  work  by  processes  that  were  often 
long  and  intricate.  He  could  not  summon  to  his  sup- 
port a  body  of  public  opinion  after  the  manner  of  a 
statesman,  for  the  Church  aims  above  and  beyond  public 
opinion,  striving  always  toward  the  permanent  and  dis- 
carding the  transitory. 

His  resources  of  statesmanship  were  to  be  drawn  upon 
to  the  utmost.  He  was  to  share  in  the  larger  thought 
and  guidance  of  the  Church  and,  to  a  great  degree,  in  the 
larger  thought  and  guidance  of  humanity  as  a  whole ;  for 
most  of  his  projects  were  not  essentially  ecclesiastical  but 
reached  out  for  general  benefits  in  which  all  would  share. 

Apart  from  determination,  adroitness  was  his  great- 
est resource,  and  of  this  he  was  a  master.  Probably  there 
was  no  man  in  his  time  superior  to  him  in  the  skilful  mar- 
shaling of  legitimate  forces  on  the  side  of  some  cause 
which  he  wished  to  advance.  He  carefully  calculated 
elements  of  opposition  and  as  carefully  planned  to  re- 
move them  by  means  in  which  only  a  man  of  his  versatil- 
ity could  be  adept. 

He  could  count  upon  no  applause  to  encourage  him  in 
the  stages  of  his  task.  Often  he  must  wait  wearily  for 
the  final  accomplishment  before  any  verdict  could  be  ren- 
dered either  by  the  ultimate  court  of  judgment  at  Rome 
or  the  opinion  of  his  fellow  men. 

His  work  lay  in  two  continents  and  nobody  knew  bet- 


304.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ter  than  he  that  the  American  mind  was  different  from 
the  European  mind  in  regard  to  many  points  of  public 
policy  at  that  time,  although  he  felt  convinced  that  this 
difference  would  be  lessened  with  the  progress  of  years. 
His  overwhelming  wish  was  to  remove  every  obstacle 
that  impeded  the  spread  of  the  Church  in  America,  and 
every  obstacle  to  the  full  exercise  of  her  influence  in 
sustaining  and  upholding  the  institutions  of  his  country 
as  a  bulwark  of  human  liberties,  potent  for  the  welfare 
of  millions  already,  and  millions  yet  to  be  born. 

Essentially  his  program  was  that  of  a  churchman. 
Temperamentally  he  was  both  churchman  and  states- 
man. Foremost  of  all,  he  had  the  ready  faculty  of  win- 
ning confidence  and  attracting  men  to  his  side.  The  sim- 
plicity and  directness  of  his  appeals  were  no  less  marked 
than  their  cogency.  None  questioned  his  intense  sincer- 
ity, his  Catholicity,  his  patriotism;  and  where  he  was 
able  to  exert  a  direct  influence  he  was  usually  able  to 
command  in  the  end  confidence  in  his  judgment. 

All  that  was  in  him  he  assembled  for  the  work  that  lay 
before  him.  Even  his  physique  seemed  to  expand  under 
the  uplifting  influence  that  inspired  him.  He  worked 
ceaselessly  and  wrote  much.  Thought  came  to  him 
quickly,  almost  as  an  inspiration;  he  was  never  at  a  loss 
as  to  how  to  proceed.  When  difficulties  obstructed  him 
in  one  direction,  he  tried  another  road.  Sustained  through- 
out by  an  intense  belief  in  the  justice  of  his  reasoned  de- 
cisions and  by  a  sublime  reliance  upon  Providence,  he 
was  almost  irresistible,  as  some  of  those  who  sought  to 
impede  him  soon  came  to  know. 

These  wide  conceptions  were  formed  amid  the  peace 


SETTING  THE  LARGER  TASK  305 

of  his  little  workshop  in  the  archiepiscopal  residence  in 
Baltimore,  a  room  whose  appearance  of  placidity  con- 
trasted with  the  conflicts  upon  which  he  unhesitatingly 
resolved  to  embark.  Against  one  wall  of  this  study  was 
a  writing  desk;  shelves  full  of  books  took  up  much  of  the 
space  of  the  other  walls.  There  were  a  few  leather-cov- 
ered easy  chairs,  and  a  carpet  upon  the  floor  that  was 
plain  and  often  worn.  That  was  all.  Simplicity  per- 
vaded the  apartment  as  it  did  the  soul  of  its  occupant. 
Here  in  these  surroundings  he  planned  his  campaigns; 
here  he  consulted  the  powerful  group  of  advisers  and 
lieutenants  whom  he  assembled;  here  he  conducted  one 
of  the  most  extensive  correspondences  in  the  world ;  here 
he  was  baffled  in  defeats,  which  were  few,  and  he  rejoiced 
in  victories,  which  were  many.  For  thirty-five  years  in- 
fluences radiated  from  that  little  room  which  were  felt 
in  the  most  distant  regions  of  the  earth,  wherever  the 
Catholic  Church  is  a  force  in  guiding  the  lives  of  men. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
SPEECH  IN  ROME  ON  CHURCH  AND  STATE 

With  American  swiftness — for  Cardinal  Gibbons  in 
his  personal  traits  and  methods  in  the  active  affairs  of 
life  exhibited  to  an  unusual  degree  the  characteristics 
commonly  attributed  to  his  fellow  countrymen — he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  heart  of  his  task.  When  he  went  to  Rome 
in  the  winter  of  1887  for  the  ancient  ceremony  of  the 
conferring  of  the  red  hat  upon  him,  the  thought  upper- 
most in  his  mind  was  far  beyond  the  obvious  perspective 
of  ceremony  and  public  spectacle.  Ever  a  keen  judge 
of  time  and  place  for  his  most  significant  acts,  he  was  pre- 
pared to  sow  the  seed  of  his  ideas  whence  it  might  be 
scattered  most  widely  over  the  Christian  world. 

New  demonstrations  of  popular  esteem  marked  his 
departure  from  New  York,  and  in  Paris  he  was  exten- 
sively entertained.  Arriving  in  Rome,  he  became  the  cen- 
ter of  an  influential  American  representation  there  as- 
sembled, including  Monsignor  O'Connell,  then  rector  of 
the  American  College;  Archbishop  Ireland,  Bishop  Keane 
and  others.  Among  such  churchmen  as  these  he  was  at 
home  both  as  leader  and  friend. 

Conferences  with  the  Pope  ensued,  at  which  conditions 
in  America  were  discussed;  and  on  St.  Patrick's  Day,  at 
a  public  consistory  in  the  Sala  Regia,  the  Pontiff  be- 

306 


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SPEECH  IN  ROME  ON  CHURCH  AND  STATE  307 

stowed  the  hat  and  ring  and  performed  the  ceremony  of 
sealing  and  opening  the  lips. 

To  Cardinal  Gibbons  was  assigned  as  his  titular 
church  the  ancient  basilica  of  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere. 
Standing  in  that  church  March  25,  the  day  of  his  instaU 
lation  there,  he  delivered  a  message  from  America  to 
Europe  whose  echoes  resounded  immediately.  He  wore 
the  scarlet  cassock,  signifying  that  he  would  defend  the 
faith  even  to  the  shedding  of  his  blood,  as  in  the  days 
when  Christians  were  thrown  to  the  lions  in  the  Colos- 
seum, not  far  distant.  Surrounding  him  was  the  cen- 
turied  magnificence  of  architecture,  painting,  statue, 
mosaic.  The  long  ceremonial  eloquently  bespoke  the 
story  of  Christianity  from  the  age  of  Constantine,  through 
the  glories  of  Charlemagne,  the  brilliancy  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  and  the  reconstruction  of  modern .  Europe. 
It  was  carried  out  with  the  precise  formalism  of  early 
Rome  and  in  the  majestic  tongue  in  which  martyrs 
praised  God  as  they  went  to  their  death.  The  atmosphere 
was  rich  with  incense  and  vibrant  with  sacred  music. 
Vestment  and  altar  denoted  antiquity.  It  was  an  occasion 
to  overpower  the  senses,  to  hush  the  voice  of  the  pres- 
ent in  the  shadow  of  the  accumulated  grandeur  and  wis- 
dom of  the  past. 

But  the  voice  that  spoke  was  not  of  the  past;  it  was 
a  voice  from  a  continent  unknown  during  fourteen  cen- 
turies of  the  Church's  life,  and  from  a  man  appearing  as 
the  interpreter  of  a  new  people  who  had  spread  in  mil- 
lions with  incredible  rapidity  over  that  continent.  Gib- 
bons spoke  as  if  by  inspiration,  for  he  had  not  intended 
to  make  an  address  on  that  occasion  beyond  the  brief 


308  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

response  necessary  to  his  participation  in  the  ceremony. 
Only  a  few  days  before  Mgr.  O'Connell  had  advised  him 
to  extend  his  discourse  and  he  had  coincided  in  that  view. 
He  said: 

"The  assignment  to  me  by  the  Holy  Father  of  this 
beautiful  basilica  as  my  titular  church  fills  me  with  feel- 
ings of  joy  and  gratitude  which  any  words  of  mine  are 
inadequate  to  express.  For,  as  here  in  Rome  I  stand 
within  the  first  temple  raised  in  honor  of  the  ever-blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  so  in  my  far-off  home,  my  own  Cathedral 
Church,  the  oldest  in  the  United  States,  is  also  dedicated 
to  the  Mother  of  God.  This  venerable  edifice  in  which 
we  are  gathered  leads  us  back  in  contemplation  to  the 
days  of  the  catacombs.  Its  foundation  was  laid  by  Pope 
Calixtus  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  224.  It  was  restored 
by  Pope  Julius  in  the  fourth  century,  and  renovated  by 
another  Supreme  Pontiff  in  the  twelfth. 

"That  never-ceasing  solicitude  which  the  Sovereign 
Pontiffs  have  exhibited  in  erecting  these  material  tem- 
ples, which  are  the  glory  of  this  city,  they  have  also  mani- 
fested on  a  larger  scale  in  rearing  spiritual  walls  to  Zion 
throughout  Christendom  in  every  age.  Scarcely  were  the 
United  States  formed  into  an  independent  government, 
when  Pope  Pius  VII  established  a  Catholic  Hierarchy  and 
appointed  the  illustrious  John  Carroll  the  first  Bishop  of 
Baltimore.  Our  Catholic  community  in  those  days  num- 
bered a  few  thousand  souls,  and  they  were  scattered 
chiefly  through  the  States  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania 
and  Maryland.  They  were  served  by  a  mere  handful  of 
priests.  But  now,  thanks  to  the  fructifying  grace  of 
God,  the  grain  of  mustard  seed  then  planted  has  grown 
to  a  large  tree,  spreading  its  branches  through  the  length 
and  breadth  of  our  fair  land.  Where  only  one  Bishop 
was  found  in  the  beginning  of  this  century,  there  are  now 
seventy-five  exercising  spiritual  jurisdiction.     For  this 


SPEECH  IN  ROME  ON  CHURCH  AND  STATE  309 

great  progress  we  are  indebted^  under  God  and  the  fos- 
tering vigilance  of  the  Holy  See,  to  the  civil  liberty  we 
enjoy  in  our  enlightened  republic. 

"Our  Holy  Father,  Leo  XHI,  in  his  luminous  ency- 
clical on  the  constitution  of  Christian  States/  declares 
that  the  Church  is  not  committed  to  any  form  of  civil 
government.  She  adapts  herself  to  all.  She  leavens  all 
with  the  sacred  leaven  of  the  Gospel.  She  has  lived 
under  absolute  monarchies,  under  constitutional  monar- 
chies, in  free  republics,  and  everywhere  she  grows  and 
expands, 

"She  has  often,  indeed,  been  hampered  in  her  Divine 
mission.  She  has  even  been  forced  to  struggle  for  her 
existence  wherever  despotism  has  cast  its  dark  shadow, 
like  a  plant  shut  out  from  the  blessed  light  of  heaven. 
But  in  the  genial  atmosphere  of  liberty  she  blossoms  like 
a  rose. 

"For  myself,  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  andV 
without  closing  my  eyes  to  our  shortcomings  as  a  nation, 
I  say,  with  a  deep  sense  of  pride  and  gratitude,  that  J 
belong  to  a  country  where  the  civil  governmeiit  holds  over 
us  the  aegis  of  its  protection.,  without  interfering  with 
us  in  the  legitimate  exercise  of  our  sublime  mission  as 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Our  country  has  lib- 
erty without  license,  and  authority  without  despotism. 
She  rears  no  wall  to  exclude  the  stranger  from  among  us. 
She  has  few  frowning  fortifications  to  repel  the  invader, 
for  she  is  at  peace  with  all  the  world.  She  rests  secure 
in  the  consciousness  of  her  strength  and  her  good  will 
toward  all.  Her  harbors  are  open  to  welcome  the  honest 
emigrant  who  comes  to  advance  his  temporal  interests 
and  find  a  peaceful  home.  , 

"But,  while  we  are  acknowledged  to  have  a  free  gov- 

*  Cardinal  Gibbons  afterwards  said  that  he  had  taken  this  encyclical 
as  the  "text  of  my  remarks"  at  his  installation  in  his  titular  church, 
(Sermon  on  "Personal  Reminiscences  of  Leo  XIII,"  delivered  in  the 
Baltimore  Cathedral  in  April,  1902,) 


310  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ernment,  perhaps  we  do  not  receive  the  credit  that  belongs 
to  us  for  having^  also^  a  strong  government.  Yes,  our 
nation  is  strong,  and  her  strength  lies,  under  the  over- 
ruling guidance  of  Providence,  in  the  majesty  and  su- 
premacy of  the  law,  in  the  loyalty  of  her  citizens  and  in 
the  affection  of  her  people  for  her  free  institutions.  There 
are,  indeed,  grave  social  problems  now  employing  the 
earnest  attention  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
but  I  have  no  doubt  that,  with  God's  blessing,  these 
problems  will  be  solved  by  the  calm  judgment  and  sound 
sense  of  the  American  people,  without  violence  or  revolu- 
tion, or  any  injury  to  individual  right. 

"As  an  evidence  of  his  good  will  for  the  great  republic 
in  the  West,  as  a  mark  of  his  appreciation  for  the  vener- 
able Hierarchy  of  the  United  States,  and  as  an  expression 
of  his  kind  consideration  for  the  ancient  See  of  Baltimore, 
our  Holy  Father  has  been  graciously  pleased  to  elevate 
its  present  incumbent,  in  my  humble  person,  to  the  dig- 
nity of  the  purple.  For  this  mark  of  his  exalted  favor 
I  beg  to  tender  the  Holy  Father  my  profound  thanks  in 
my  own  name  and  in  the  name  of  the  clergy  and  faithful. 
I  venture  to  thank  him  also  in  the  name  of  my  venerable 
colleagues,  the  Bishops,  as  well  as  the  clergy  and  Catholic 
laity  of  the  United  States.  7  presume  also  to  thank  him 
in  the  name  of  our  separated  brethren  in  America^  who, 
though  not  sharing  our  faith,  have  shown  that  they  are 
not  insensible — indeed,  that  they  are  deeply  sensible — of 
the  honor  conferred  upon  our  common  country,  and  have 
again  and  again  expressed  their  admiration  for  the  en- 
lightened statesmanship  and  apostolic  virtues  and  benev- 
olent character  of  the  illustrious  Pontiff  who  now  sits  in 
the  Chair  of  St.  Peter." 

The  force  of  this  pronouncement  could  not  be  mistaken, 
for  in  Europe  some  form  of  union  of  Church  and  State 
was  then  considered  normal  by  both  Catholics  and  Protes- 


SPEECH  IN  ROME  ON  CHURCH  AND  STATE  311 

tants  and  the  view  lingered  that  separation  implied  an- 
tagonism. The  speech  was  "characteristically  American," 
they  said  in  Rome.  Here  was  a  Cardinal,  barely  out  of 
his  first  consistory,  daring  to  assert  in  the  very  citadel  of 
the  Church  that  separation  in  the  United  States  did  not 
mean  hostility  by  the  State  to  the  Church,  but  protection ; 
that  in  the  air  of  perfect  freedom,  unhampered  by  politi- 
cal bonds,  the  Church  could  work  out  her  Divine  mission 
better  and  more  quickly;  that  union  of  Church  and  State 
often  meant  interference,  and  that  American  liberty 
meant  the  opportunity  to  win  men  to  the  faith  free  from 
the  vexation  of  human  complications. 

The  message  which  the  Cardinal  sought  to  convey,  as 
he  said  afterward,  was  that  "our  duty  is  to  preach  the 
Gospel  and  save  souls";  that  it  is  wisest  to  separate  en- 
tirely the  ministry  of  Christ  from  politics,  unless  some 
great  moral  question  is  involved;  that  this  course  is  bet- 
ter for  the  Church  everywhere.  He  felt  that  in  time 
comprehension  of  the  American  system  would  grow ;  but 
some  one  must  be  considered  radical  in  launching  the  first 
official  declaration  of  it  in  the  higher  circles  of  the 
Church,  and  he  did  not  shrink  from  fulfilling  that  trying 
mission. 

Adroitly  based  as  his  speech  was  upon  a  declaration  by 
the  reigning  Pontiff  in  the  precision  of  an  encyclical, 
criticism  was  disarm.ed  and  powerless.  In  the  letter 
I  mm  or  tale  Dei^  issued  less  than  two  years  before  ^  Leo 
had  declared: 

"The  Almighty  therefore  has  appointed  the  charge  of 
the  human  race  between  two  powers,  the  ecclesiastical  and 

*  November  i,  1885. 


312  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

the  civil,  the  one  being  set  over  Divine  and  the  other 
over  human  things.  Each  in  its  kind  is  supreme,  each 
has  fixed  limits  within  which  it  is  contained,  limits  which 
are  defined  by  the  nature  and  the  special  object  of  the 
province  of  each,  so  that  there  is,  we  may  say,  an  orbit 
traced  out  within  which  the  action  of  each  is  brought  into 
play  by  its  own  native  right.  .  .  . 

"Whatever,  therefore,  in  things  human  is  of  a  sacred 
character,  whatever  belongs  either  of  its  own  nature  or  by 
reason  of  the  end  to  which  it  is  referred  to  the  salvation 
of  souls  or  the  worship  of  God,  is  subject  to  the  power  and 
judgment  of  the  Church.  Whatever  is  to  be  ranged  under 
the  civil  and  political  order  is  rightly  subject  to  the  civil, 
authority.  Jesus  Christ  has  Himself  given  command, 
that  what  is  Caesar's  is  to  be  rendered  to  Caesar  and  that 
what  belongs  to  God  is  to  be  rendered  to  God."  * 

In  a  later  encyclical  *  Leo  vehemently  rejected  the 
thought  that  the  Church  was  seeking  political  control  in 
any  country.    He  wrote: 

"We  must  indicate  a  craftily  circulated  calumny  mak- 
ing most  odious  imputations  against  Catholics  and  even 
against  the  Holy  See  itself.  It  is  maintained  that  that 
vigor  of  action  inculcated  in  Catholics  for  the  defense  of 
their  faith  has  for  a  secret  motive  much  less  the  safe- 
guarding of  their  religious  interests  than  the  ambition 
of  securing  to  the  Church  political  domination  over  the 
State,  Truly  this  is  the  revival  of  a  very  ancient  calum- 
ny, as  its  invention  belongs  to  the  first  enemies  of  Chris- 
t  tianity.  Was  it  not,  first  of  all,  formulated  against  the 
adorable  person  of  the  Redeemer"?  .  .  .  'We  have  found 
this  man  perverting  our  nation  and  forbidding  to  give 
tribute  to  Caesar  and  saying  that  he  is  Christ  the  King.'  " 

"Wynne,  the  Great  Encyclical  Letters  of  Leo  XIII,  pp.  1 14-1 15. 
*  Letter  Au  Milieu  des  Sollicitudes,  February   16,   1892,   addressed  to 
the  Bishops  and  faithful  of  France;  Wynne,  p.  253. 


SPEECH  IN  ROME  ON  CHURCH  AND  STATE  313 

The  declaration  on  Church  and  State  made  by  Gibbons 
in  1887  was  one  of  the  first  great  steps  by  which  Europe, 
as  a  whole,  has  come  to  understand  America  better.  None 
had  felt  more  keenly  than  American  Catholics  the  lack 
of  comprehension  of  their  country  abroad,  in  the  first 
century  of  the  Republic's  existence!,  although  many  of 
them  understood  the  natural  causes  of  this  lack.  Bishops 
and  laymen  had  shared  the  feeling,  for  it  had  been  an 
obstacle  to  the  success  of  the  efforts  for  the  expansion  of 
the  Church.  They  hailed  with  joy  the  fact  that  Cardinal 
Gibbons  had  risen,  as  if  by  act  of  Providence,  to  remove 
the  obstruction.  With  one  bold  stroke  he  had  crippled 
an  active  force  for  that  intolerance  in  America  which 
Catholics  had  endured  so  long. 

Now  Europe  understands  America  as  never  before,  and 
imitates  her  in  many  things.  The  life  of  Gibbons  exerted 
a  powerful  influence  in  the  direction  of  that  understand- 
ing. It  opened  the  way  for  a  renewal  of  the  brotherhood 
that  had  been  broken  when  the  men  and  women  who 
colonized  the  Western  world  had  fled  from  conditions  in 
Europe,  determining  that  there  should  be  in  the  future  as 
little  bond  as  possible  between  them  and  the  scene  of 
their  old  lives.  The  Spanish-American  War  opened  mu- 
tual comprehension  still  wider,  and  the  World  War 
widest  of  all.  Gibbons  lived  to  see  these  convulsions 
supplement  and  amplify  a  change  in  European  opinion 
which,  virtually  unaided,  he  had  striven  by  peaceful 
means  many  years  before  to  bring  about. 

The  general  idea  of  a  better  comprehension  by  Eu- 
rope and  America  of  each  other  appealed  to  him,  as  to 
Leo  XIII,  as  a  part  of  the  work  which  they  felt  called 


814.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

upon  to  do.  It  was  one  of  the  dearest  wishes  of  Leo  to 
conciliate  the  great  mass  of  Americans,  in  order  that  the 
apostolic  mission  of  the  Church  among  them  might  pro- 
ceed unimpeded.  It  was  one  of  the  dearest  wishes  of 
Gibbons  to  reciprocate  that  ardent  desire  from  his  dis- 
tant seat  in  the  western  hemisphere  and  to  hasten  it 
toward  realization  with  all  the  resources  that  he  could 
command  in  a  life  of  untiring  labor.  Leo  spoke  as  Pope, 
detached  from  all  nations.  Gibbons  spoke  as  head  of 
the  primatial  See  in  America,  whose  Catholicity  was  the 
Catholicity  of  Leo,  and  whose  patriotism  was  the  patriot- 
ism of  the  fathers  of  the  republic. 

Gibbons  did  not  aim  in  his  speech  in  Rome  to  prescribe 
conditions  for  Europe.  It  was  for  America  only  that  he 
spoke.  And  he  denied  with  all  the  vigor  that  he  could 
summon  the  imputation  that  the  American  Government 
was  irreligious  or  hostile  to  religion  in  any  way.  He 
emphasized  this  point  in  a  later  utterance,  saying: 

"American  Catholics  rejoice  in  our  separation  of 
Church  and  State,  and  I  can  conceive  no  combination  of 
circumstances  likely  to  arise  which  would  make  a  union 
desirable  to  either  Church  or  State.  We  know  the  bless- 
ings of  our  arrangement;  it  gives  us  liberty  and  binds 
together  priests  and  people  in  a  union  better  than  Church 
and  State.  Other  countries,  other  manners;  we  do  not 
believe  our  system  adapted  to  all  conditions.  We  leave 
it  to  Church  and  State  in  other  lands  to  solve  their  prob- 
lems for  their  own  best  interests.  For  ourselves,  we  thank 
God  that  we  live  in  America,  'in  this  happy  country  of 
ours,'  to  quote  Mr.  Roosevelt,  where  'religion  and  lib- 
erty are  natural  allies.'  "  ^ 

•"The    Church    and   the    Republic,"    Cardinal    Gibbons   in   the   North 
American  Revieiv  for  March,  1909. 


SPEECH  IN  ROME  ON  CHURCH  AND  STATE  315 

On  another  occasion  he  said : 

"And  happily  for  the  nation,  this  humble  recognition 
of  a  superintending  power  has  been  upheld  from  the 
dawn  of  the  Republic  to  our  time.  What  a  striking  con- 
trast we  present  in  this  respect  to  our  sister  republic 
across  the  Atlantic,  which  once  bore  the  proud  title  of 
'Eldest  Daughter  of  the  Church' !  The  leaders  of  the 
French  Republic  are  so  far  carried  away  by  the  tide  of 
unbelief  that  they  studiously  eliminate  the  name  of  God 
from  their  official  utterances. 

"How  different  is  the  conduct  of  our  leaders  and 
statesmen!  They  have  all  paid  homage  to  the  moral 
governor  of  the  world.  All  the  Presidents  of  the  United 
States  .  .  .  have  invariably  invoked  the  aid  of  our 
Heavenly  Father  in  their  inaugural  proclamations.  It 
is  also  the  edifying  custom  of  our  Chief  Magistrate  to 
invite  his  fellow-citizens  to  assemble  in  their  respective 
places  of  worship  on  the  last  Thursday  in  November,  to 
offer  thanksgiving  to  the  Giver  of  all  gifts  for  the  bless- 
ings vouchsafed  to  the  nation.  Both  houses  of  Congress 
are  daily  opened  with  prayer  and  all  important  civic  and 
political  conventions  are  inaugurated  by  an  appeal  to  the 
throne  of  Grace.  God's  supremacy  is  also  recognized  by 
the  observance  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  throughout  the 
land. 

"It  is  true,  indeed,  that  we  have  no  official  union  of 
Church  and  State  in  this  country.  But  we  are  not  to  infer 
from  this  fact  that  there  is  any  antagonism  between  the 
civil  and  religious  authorities,  nor  does  it  imply  any  in- 
difference to  religious  principles.  Far  from  it.  Church 
and  State  move  in  parallel  lines."  ® 

The  Cardinal  had  been  much  impressed  by  his  observa- 
tion of  conditions  in  Europe  arising  out  of  the  relations 

'Sermon  on  "Will  the  American  Republic  Endure?"  delivered  in  the 
Baltimore    Cathedral    November   3,    1912. 


316  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

then  maintained  between  Church  and  State.  In  his  ser- 
mon at  the  consecration  of  the  Baltimore  Cathedral  ^  he 
had  given  perhaps  his  first  public  expression  of  a  view 
which  he  repeated  in  various  forms  afterward.    He  said : 

"Many  persons  labor  under  the  erroneous  impression 
that  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe  have  been  the  unvary- 
ing bulwarks  of  the  Church,  and  that  she  could  not  sub- 
sist without  them.  The  truth  is,  her  worst  enemies  have 
been,  with  some  honorable  exceptions,  so-called  Chris- 
tian princes.  They  wished  to  be  governed  by  no  law 
but  their  passion  and  caprice.  They  chafed  under  the 
salutary  discipline  of  the  Church,  and  wished  to  be  rid  of 
her  because  she  alone  in  times  of  depression  had  the 
power  and  the  courage  to  stand  by  the  people.  She 
planted  herself  like  a  wall  of  brass  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  their  rulers.  .  .  .  She  told  them  that  'if  the 
people  have  their  obligations,  they  have  their  rights, 
too. 

The  Cardinal's  message  on  that  March  day  in  1887 
was  to  all  Europe,  the  Protestant  as  well  as  the  Catholic 
part  of  it.  In  fact,  he  considered  that  the  forms  of  union 
which  then  existed  between  various  States  of  Europe  and 
Protestant  creeds  had  impeded  religion  most  of  all.  The 
Catholic  Church,  he  pointed  out,  had  always  retained  her 
spiritual  independence.  Wherever  she  had  formed  a 
union  with  the  State,  it  had  been  an  alliance  of  independ- 
ent powers,  not  the  subjection  of  a  vassal  to  her  liege  lord. 
He  once  wrote: 

"Whenever  in  Europe  the  opportunity  presented  itself, 
the  various  Protestant  Churches  united  with  the  State, 
nay,  rather  they  threw  themselves  at  the  feet  of  the  State, 
'May  25,  1876. 


SPEECH  IN  ROME  ON  CHURCH  AND  STATE  317 

and  said  'Rule  thou  over  us;  be  thou  our  king  and 
prophet!'  .  .  . 

"There  is  a  union  that  is  inimical  to  the  interests  of 
religion  and  consequently  to  the  State;  and  there  is  a 
separation  that  is  inimical  to  the  interests  of  religion  and 
consequently  to  the  State;  and  there  is  a  separation  that 
is  for  the  best  interests  of  both.  In  our  country  separa- 
tion is  a  necessity;  and  it  is  a  separation  that  works  best 
for  the  interests  of  religion,  as  Mr.  Taft  recently  said,  as 
well  as  for  the  good  of  the  State.  I  fully  agree  with  him, 
and  I  can  understand  too,  and  sympathize  with  the  great 
Catholic  leader  of  France,  the  Count  de  Mun,  who  re- 
cently exclaimed:  'In  America  separation  means  the 
reign  of  liberty;  in  France  the  reign  of  impiety.'  .  .  . 

"Her  [the  Church's]  doctrine  on  the  subject  has  been 
this :  In  a  country  wholly  or  predominantly  Catholic,  the 
most  desirable  relation  is  the  friendly  union  and  coopera- 
tion of  Church  and  State,  neither  power  sacrificing  its 
liberty,  and  each  acknowledging  the  other.  That  this  is 
the  ideal  relation,  provided  liberty  be  assured  to  those 
not  of  the  established  Church,  no  sensible  man  can  deny. 
The  Catholic  Church  states  in  form  of  doctrine  what  all 
history  shows  to  be  inevitable — that  where  the  Church 
and  State  are  practically  two  names  for  the  nation,  viewed 
as  a  body  of  worshippers  and  as  a  political  entity,  it  is 
impossible  to  prevent  an  intimate  union.  If  my  Prot- 
estant friends  will  show  me  a  free  nation  that  really 
believes  in  one  religion  and  has  no  union  of  religion  with 
the  State,  I  will  believe  the  Catholic  doctrine  unwar- 
ranted; but,  while  the  union  is  ideally  best,  history  surely 
does  not  prove  that  it  is  always  practically  best."  ^ 

In  a  tribute  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  delivered  in  a  ser- 
mon at  the  Baltimore  Cathedral,®  Gibbons  said: 

•"The   Church   and  the  Republic,"   Cardinal   Gibbons   in   the  North 
American  Revieiv. 
'Peceraber  19,  1905. 


318  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"He  [Archbishop  Carroll]  did  not  wish  the  Church  to 
vegetate  as  a  delicate  exotic  plant;  he  wished  it  to  be- 
come a  sturdy  tree,  deep-rooted  in  the  soil,  to  grow  with 
the  full  bloom  and  development  of  the  country,  accus- 
tomed to  its  climate,  braving  its  storms  and  invigorated 
by  them,  and  yielding  abundantly  the  fruits  of  sanctifi- 
cation." 

When  he  was  seventy-nine  years  old  and  had  observed 
during  a  longer  period  the  relations  of  Church  and  State 
in  America,  Cardinal  Gibbons  expressed  his  mature  views 
on  the  subject,  saying: 

"The  question  arises,  which  is  the  best  arrangement, 
the  official  union  of  Church  and  State  or  the  mutual  inde- 
pendence of  both*?  I  have  nothing  to  say  in  regard  to 
other  countries,  but  our  own  friendly  relation  of  Church 
and  State  without  official  union  is  best  for  us. 

"The  Church  has  tried  official  union  of  Church  and 
State  and  she  has  tried  friendly  independence.  In  adher- 
ing to  the  first  system  she  has  often  been  hampered  and 
restrained  in  her  Divine  mission  by  the  encroachment  of 
despotic  governments.  As  far  as  our  own  country  is  con- 
cerned, I  prefer  our  American  system,  where  there  are 
friendly  relations  and  mutual  cooperation,  where  both 
move  in  parallel  lines  without  clash  or  conflict,  each 
helping  the  other  in  the  mission  it  has  from  God.  ... 

"I  do  not  wish  to  see  the  day  when  the  Church  will 
invoke  and  receive  Government  aid  to  build  our  churches 
or  subsidize  our  clergy.  For  then  the  civil  rulers  might 
dictate  the  doctrines  we  were  to  preach.  May  the  happy 
condition  now  existing  among  us  always  continue;  when 
the  relations  between  the  clergy  and  the  people  will  be 
direct  and  immediate;  when  Bishops  and  priests  will  be- 
stow on  their  spiritual  children  their  voluntary  labors, 
their  tender  solicitude,  their  paternal  affection  and  pour, 


SPEECH  IN  ROME  ON  CHURCH  AND  STATE  319 

out  for  them  their  life's  blood,  if  necessary,  and  when 
they  will  receive  in  return  the  free-will  offerings,  the 
devotion  and  gratitude  of  their  beloved  flocks."  ^^ 

No  one  was  more  aware  than  Gibbons  of  the  commo- 
tion which  his  speech  in  1887  ^^  ^is  titular  church  was 
bound  to  cause,  but  he  felt  that,  though  the  ground  was 
advanced,  it  was  firm  ground.  Speaking  to  a  friend  on 
the  subject  when  he  was  nearly  eighty  years  old,  he  said: 

"I  was  surprised  at  my  own  audacity,  but  it  was  in  me 
znd  I  had  to  say  it.  And  do  you  know  that  I  never  re- 
ceived as  much  as  one  reproof  for  it^  But  I  was  careful' 
to  save  myself  by  applying  my  remarks  only  to  this  coun- 
try, and  Leo  XHI  wrote  a  letter  soon  afterward  in  which 
he  expressed  about  the  same  views  on  the  practical  ef- 
fects of  the  separation  of  Church  and  State  in  America. 
That  was  a  long  time  ago,  and  it  took  a  great  deal  more 
boldness  to  say  such  a  thing  then  than  it  takes  now." 

"  Sermon  on  "Civil  and  Religious  Liberty"  in  the  Baltimore  Cathedral, 
December  7,  1913. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
DEFENSE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Labor's  cause  clamored  for  help  in  high  quarters  and 
the  issue  could  not  wait.  It  was  in  conformity  with 
Cardinal  Gibbons'  wish,  as  well  as  with  the  current  of 
fast  developing  events,  that  the  Church  should  give  her 
answer  at  the  outset  of  his  elevation  to  the  Sacred  College. 

In  the  decade  immediately  preceding  that  time,  great 
forces  of  economic  discontent  had  been  throbbing  in  the 
United  States.  As  the  mirage  of  inflated  prosperity  that 
had  followed  the  Civil  War  waned,  labor,  which  had 
basked  in  plenty,  was  reduced  to  be,f:;ging  for  a  dole  of 
employment  in  the  cities,  to  which  a  far  greater  propor- 
tion of  the  population  was  flocking  than  ever  before. 
Swayed  by  a  deep  sense  of  wrong,  but  half  blinded  in  the 
search  for  remedies,  the  workers  banded  together  in 
unions  on  a  scale  that  conformed  with  the  immensity  of 
the  population,  and  the  sudden  growth  of  those  organiza- 
tions surpassed  anything  of  the  kind  that  the  world  had 
known. 

Chief  among  them  was  the  Knights  of  Labor,  an  order 
which  from  a  small  beginning  swelled  in  membership  by 
tens  of  thousands  and,  like  a  storm  cloud,  overspread  the 
political  as  well  as  the  industrial  structure  of  the  coun- 
try. In  the  amazing  swiftness  of  its  rise,  there  was  con- 
fusion as  to  its  designs  and,  in  some  quarters,  deep  sus- 
picion.    Its  head,  Terence  V.  Powderly,  seemed  to  the 

320 


DEFENSE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR  321 

toiling  masses  a  Peter  the  Hermit  called  to  lead  them 
in  a  new  crusade.  Bearing  the  modest  title  of  "general 
master  workman,"  he  wielded  greater  power  than  the 
governor  of  a  State.  He  possessed  many  of  the  traits  of 
successful  leadership  and  was  inspired  by  a  fervent  belief 
in  the  justice  of  his  cause.  Men  thronged  from  the  work- 
shops to  hail  him  when  he  went  from  city  to  city  pro- 
claiming his  evangel. 

The  wonder  of  the  organization's  growth  caused  an 
exaggeration  of  its  strength  in  the  popular  mind.  In  1886 
it  had  a  membership  of  500,000,  "although,"  as  Pow- 
derly  said  to  a  committee  of  Congress,  "we  have  been 
credited  with  5,000,000."  ^  Simultaneously  with  this 
movement,  Henry  George's  economic  theories  were  fast 
winning  converts,  particularly  in  New  York,  his  home, 
where  the  influence  of  his  powerful  personality  was 
naturally  felt  most. 

Labor  had  begun  to  knock  importunately  at  the  doors 
of  the  White  House  and  of  Congress.  The  law  against 
bringing  workingmen  under  contract  from  abroad  had 
just  been  passed;  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act,  a  meas- 
ure almost  forced  on  the  government  by  labor  organiza- 
tions, and  an  extension  of  the  Chinese  Exclusion  Act,  the 
impetus  for  which  came  from  the  same  insistent  quarter, 
were  being  debated  and  were  soon  to  be  adopted.  The 
administration  of  President  Cleveland  had  committed  it- 
self to  the  establishment  of  a  Department  of  Labor  as  a 
unit  in  the  executive  system  at  Washington.  The  anar- 
chist riots  in  Chicago,  with  their  bloody  climax,  had 
shocked  the  nation  but  a  few  months  before. 

*  Carroll  D.  Wright,  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United  States,  p.  248. 


322  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Some  observers  abroad  who  were  distrustful  of  the 
solidity  of  American  institutions  began  to  predict  a  con- 
vulsion that  would  wreck  the  Republic.  In  countries 
habituated  to  the  methods  of  militarism,  then  generally 
prevalent  in  Europe,  it  was  believed  that  a  government 
which  maintained  a  standing  army  scarcely  large  enough 
to  man  its  coast  defenses  and  a  navy  which  at  that  time 
was  obsolete  could  not  withstand  the  shock  of  a  popular 
tumult.  Political  equality,  it  was  feared,  had  no  cor- 
rective within  itself  for  a  sudden  rising  from  the  bottom. 
If  the  laborer  were  equal  to  the  capitalist  before  the  law, 
would  he  not  rave  in  unrestrained  power,  it  was  asked, 
as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  comprehend  what  his  oppor- 
tunities really  meant'? 

In  the  earlier  days  of  the  United  States,  the  labor  ques- 
tion had  adjusted  itself;  there  had  been  land  enough  for 
all;  work  for  every  hand;  the  laborer  of  to-day  became 
the  employer  of  to-morrow.  Capital  was  unorganized 
and  labor  had  felt  no  especial  need  to  band  together  for 
its  own  protection.  In  the  carnival  of  energy  which  had 
subdued  half  of  the  continent  in  a  century,  building  teem- 
ing cities  on  virgin  soil  and  spreading  new  common- 
wealths in  bewildering  succession  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific,  men  had  been  too  busily  engaged  in  con- 
structive undertakings  to  debate  the  ethics  of  the  labor 
problem. 

But  the  work  had  now  advanced  far  and  there  was  time 
to  pause.  Railroads  spanned  the  continent  and  radiated 
in  every  direction.  Civilization  had  carried  its  banner 
up  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  to  the  shores  of  the  Golden 
Gate.     The  army  of  workingmen  was  still  in  being,  but 


DEFENSE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR  323 

there  was  not  so  much  work.  Nearly  all  of  the  desirable 
lands  opened  by  the  government  to  free  settlement  had 
been  taken  up.  The  economic  pendulum  was  beginning 
to  swing,  and  times  of  scarcity  were  as  certain  to  come  as 
periods  of  plenty. 

American  workingmen  were  not  prepared  for  this. 
They  were  no  more  ready  to  meet  a  sudden  and  general 
economic  change  than  were  the  rural  colonists  to  face 
the  cannon's  mouth  in  1775.  ^^  ^^^Y  began  to  grope  for 
a  solution,  anarchy,  imported  from  Europe,  found  here 
what  its  arch  plotters  believed  to  be  fertile  soil  for  their 
propaganda.  Socialism  swept  across  the  ocean  and  began 
its  preachments  in  the  cities.  Vast  industries  had  sprung 
up  whose  captains  aimed  to  control  politicians  and  legis- 
latures. Before  them  dangled  the  gilded  prize  of 
monopoly. 

At  heart  the  body  politic  was  healthy;  these  were 
merely  sores  that  had  not  reached  the  organism,  though 
they  grievously  affected  the  surface.  In  time  their  poison 
might  penetrate  to  the  heart;  none  could  tell.  It  might 
be  that  once  again  men  would  take  arms  in  their  hands 
to  work  out  the  problems  of  free  government  amid  the 
crash  of  battle. 

Some  employers  of  labor,  particularly  street  railway 
companies  and  industrial  corporations  which  the  Knights 
antagonized,  developed  the  practise  of  sending  agents  to 
observe  the  meetings  of  the  order  and  by  such  means  were 
able  to  proscribe  its  members.  This  led  to  the  Knights 
investing  their  meetings  with  a  sufficient  degree  of  se- 
crecy to  prevent  knowledge  of  the  acts  of  individuals 
from  reaching  those  hostile  to  them.     Suspicion  of  their 


324.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

purposes,  which  had  already  taken  lodgment  in  a  large 
body  of  public  opinion,  was  intensified  by  the  mystery 
thus  thrown  around  them  both  in  the  United  States  and 
in  Canada,  where  the  order  was  also  strong.  They  were 
accused  before  the  Catholic  Hierarchy  of  Canada  as  a 
secret  society  working  against  religion.  That  body 
adjudged  them  a  forbidden  organization,  and  this  con- 
demnation was  sustained  by  the  Congregation  of  the 
Holy  Office. 

Action  by  the  Hierarchy  of  the  United  States  thus  be- 
came imperative,  as  the  principles  and  methods  of  the 
order  were  the  same  in  both  countries.  Under  the  decrees 
of  the  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore,  the  Knights 
could  be  condemned  in  the  United  States  by  unanimous 
action  of  the  Archbishops ;  or,  in  case  the  Archbishops  dis- 
agreed, the  case  could  be  referred  to  Rome. 

The  problem  was  now  squarely  before  Gibbons,  upon 
whom  would  fall  the  duty  of  convoking  the  Archbishops 
for  a  decision,  and  who,  as  the  only  Cardinal  in  the 
United  States,  was  bound  to  face  an  exceptional  degree 
of  responsibility  for  the  action  that  might  be  taken. 
He  had  felt  deep  anxiety  regarding  the  special  eco- 
nomic tendencies  then  operative  in  America,  which  re- 
duced more  and  more  the  free  opportunities  that  labor 
previously  enjoyed.  At  a  later  date,  he  gave  his  views 
on  this  point  as  they  had  occurred  to  him  when  he  was 
immediately  confronted  by  the  need  of  a  decision  in  re- 
gard to  the  Knights  of  Labor.    He  wrote: 

/^  "Those  who  live  in  these  days  ^  cannot  conceive  the 
state  of  society  in  the  seventies  and  the  eighties.     The 

•1916. 


DEFENSE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR  325 

money  of  the  country  was  not  only  concentrated  in  the 
hands  of  a  very  few  people,  but  by  means  of  this  money 
this  small  oligarchy  was  put  in  a  position  of  getting  com- 
plete control  of  our  free  institutions.  The  mass  of  peo- 
ple, dispossessed  of  land  and  of  the  means  of  production 
and  retaining  only  a  figment  of  political  power,  were  by 
no  means  satisfied  with  this  arrangement.  All  the  more  so 
as  large  numbers  of  the  working  people — that  is  to  say 
the  dispossessed — were  members  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  among  Roman  Catholics  there  is,  and  must  always  be 
a  memor)'^  of  a  better  tradition  which  preserved  to  every 
man  as  much  individual  liberty  as  was  compatible  with 
the  rights  of  his  fellow  men. 

"Accordingly  numerous  societies  for  the  protection  of 
the  workingman  rose  during  the  administration  of  Presi- 
dent Cleveland — societies  to  which  working  people  began 
to  adhere  more  and  more  steadfastly  as  their  only  pro- 
tection from  economic  slavery,  but  which  were  vehe- 
mently attacked  upon  the  other  side  as  destructive,  revolu- 
tionary and  even  anarchic;  and  indeed  the  oppression  of 
the  wealthy  was  driving  the  poor  into  excesses,  of  which 
the  anarchist  riots  of  Chicago  were  but  one  example. 

"These  societies  could  not  long  escape  the  wise  over- 
sight of  the  Church,  and  it  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that 
within  a  few  years  the  principle  of  such  organizations  of  / 
working  people  must  either  be  approved  or  condemned."  V 

It  was  brought  home  to  the  Cardinal  in  the  violent 
clashes  of  opinion  which  marked  discussions  regarding 
labor  at  that  time  that  many  Bishops  were  in  grave  alarm 
over  what  they  considered  to  be  revolutionary  tendencies 
by  the  labor  organizations.  While  Gibbons  recognized 
these  tendencies,  he  had  no  fear  of  them.  The  chief  cause 
of  concern  to  him  was  the  prospect  of  the  Church  being 

•Cardinal  Gibbons,  Retrospect  of  Fifty  Years,  Vol.  I,  pp.  187-188. 


326  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

presented  before  the  age  as  the  friend  of  the  powerful 
rich  and  the  enemy  of  the  helpless  poor.  He  felt  that 
"the  one  body  in  the  world  which  had  been  the  protector 
of  the  poor  and  the  weak  for  nearly  eighteen  hundred 
years  could  not  possibly  desert  these  same  classes  in  their 
hour  of  need."  "* 

As  a  preparation  for  his  course,  he  conferred  on  the 
question  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  and  related  social  and 
political  conditions  with  President  Cleveland,  with  whom 
he  was  on  terms  of  personal  friendship.  He  also  main- 
tained an  active  correspondence  with  Cardinal  Manning, 
the  Church's  apostle  of  labor  in  England.  In  his  letters 
to  Manning  he  explained  his  views  fully  '^  and  rejoiced 
to  find  his  own  ideas  on  the  relations  between  capital  and 
labor  shared  by  one  occupying  such  a  distinguished  posi- 
tion in  the  other  grand  division  of  the  English  speaking 
world.  Manning  considered  that  Gibbons  was  bound  to 
do  a  great  and  needed  work  in  America  in  advancing  the 
position  of  the  laboring  classes. 

Gibbons  summoned  Powderly  to  Baltimore  and  con- 
ferred with  him  on  several  occasions  at  the  archiepiscopal 
residence.  His  keen  mind  searched  out  in  these  inter- 
views the  essentials  of  the  organization  and  purposes  of 
the  Knights,  as  they  related  not  only  to  Church  rules  and 
traditions,  but  also  to  the  general  consideration  of  labor's 
elevation  to  meet  the  new  needs  of  the  times,  and  the 
lifting  of  unjust  burdens  that  galled  its  back. 

Fortified  with  the  fullest  information  on  the  question 
which  he  could  obtain  from  any  source,  he  called  a  meet- 

*  Retrospect,  Vol.  I,  p.   i88. 

'Purcell,  Life   of  Cardinal  Manning,  Vol.  II,  pp.   650-651. 


DEFENSE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR  327 

ing  of  the  Archbishops  in  Baltimore,  before  whom  Pow- 
derly  appeared  by  his  invitation.  At  that  meeting  he 
asked  Powderly  to  explain  to  the  prelates  the  precise 
extent  of  the  obligation  of  secrecy  among  the  Knights. 
Powderly  convinced  them  that  secrecy  was  enjoined  on 
the  members  only  by  a  simple  pledge  and  not  by  an  oath ; 
that  it  was  approved  by  the  Knights  only  in  so  far  as  it 
was  necessary  to  protect  their  business  from  enemies  or 
strangers.  The  ^pledge  was  not  such,  he  showed,  as  to 
hinder  Catholics  from  manifesting  everything  in  the  con- 
fessional, or  preventing  the  heads  of  the  order  from  giv- 
ing full  information  to  competent  ecclesiastical  authority 
even  outside  of  confession. 

Some  of  the  Archbishops  were  by  no  means  ready  to 
part  with  their  doubts  as  to  the  order.  Even  the  en- 
lightened Ryan  was  difficult  to  convince  and  Gibbons 
said  later  of  his  attitude  on  the  subject:  "At  first  I  had 
a  great  deal  of  trouble  with  him,  but  he  came  over  to  my 
way  of  thinking  at  last."  In  the  end,  only  two  of  the 
twelve  Archbishops — Kenrick,  of  St.  Louis,  and  Sal- 
pointe,  of  Santa  Fe — voted  for  condemnation. 

Of  the  bold  acts  of  a  bold  life,  Gibbons  was  now  to 
undertake  one  of  the  most  amazing.  The  Congregation 
of  the  Holy  Office — the  former  "Inquisition" — had  never 
reversed  itself  in  all  its  long  history.  In  the  general  atti- 
tude expressed  in  its  condemnation  of  the  Knights,  it 
was  sustained  by  what  was  then  the  preponderant  public 
opinion  of  the  world.  To  attempt  to  obtain  a  reversal 
seemed,  in  many  eyes,  nothing  short  of  rash.  When  it 
became  known  that  the  young  American  Cardinal  was 
resolved   to   make   the   attempt,   extreme   conservatives 


328  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

among  European  churchmen  were  disposed  to  shudder. 
He  was  assailed,  in  and  out  of  religious  circles,  as  quix- 
otic, radical,  even  Socialistic.  Epithets  accumulated  in- 
tensity as  the  tide  of  surprise  rose  higher. 

Gibbons  knew  that  at  the  outset  of  the  fight  he  bore 
the  standard  of  a  feeble  cause.  But  he  was  sustained  by 
an  unshaken  belief  that  he  was  striving,  as  he  said,  in 
behalf  of  "the  only  possible  course  for  the  Church  to 
take."  He  accepted  hostility  as  inevitable  from  the  con- 
ditions of  the  time,  but  his  eyes  were  fixed  on  a  goal  be- 
yond those  conditions.     He  wrote  later: 

"Amid  how  many  fears  such  a  course  was  taken  no- 
body now  can  realize  since  Leo  XIII  has  settled  forevei 
in  his  wonderful  encyclical  Rerum  Novarum  the  prin- 
ciples of  economics  which  are  alone  consonant  with  the 
Gospel.  It  seemed  as  if  in  taking  the  course  which  some 
of  us  took  ...  we  were  destroying  the  Church's  reputa- 
tion for  conservatism  as  well  as  her  usefulness  as  a  con- 
server  of  society;  that  we  Bishops  of  the  Church  of  God 
were  making  of  ourselves  demagogues  and  the  harbingers 
of  the  red  revolution."  ® 

In  truth  the  Knights  might  have  become  Socialistic, 
had  a  program  of  repression  been  maintained  against 
them.  But  in  Gibbons'  view,  to  condemn  the  order  was 
to  condemn  labor,  for  it  was  the  one  large  organization 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada  then  identified  in  the 
public  mind  with  the  new  movement  to  assert  labor's 
rights.  He  had  wished  to  discover  if  evils  existed  in  the 
order  which  could  be  remedied ;  and  Powderly  had  prom- 
ised both  him  and  the  Archbishops  to  alter  anything  in  its 

*  Retrospect,  Preface,   p.   la. 


DEFENSE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR  329 

constitution  and  laws  which  the  Church  might  declare  to 
be  repugnant. 

His  natural  sympathy  with  the  cause  of  labor  dis- 
posed him  to  be  lenient  with  its  faults  while  the  move- 
ment was  in  a  formative  stage.  He  realized  that  many 
of  its  leaders  were  untrained,  burning  with  a  sense  of  in- 
justice and  therefore  overzealous — in  some  cases  even 
reckless.  Every  expedient,  in  his  opinion,  must  be  used 
to  lead  the  movement  into  such  channels  that  the  Church 
could  be  its  friend,  even  its  defender.  He  firmly  held 
that  the  danger  would  be  reduced  by  sympathy  for  the 
real  wrongs  which  were  the  basis  of  the  entire  agitation. 
The  movement,  it  appeared  to  him,  was  a  process  of 
evolution.  While  it  must  be  guided,  it  must  not  be  co- 
erced. It  must  be  allowed  to  spend  its  force  and  break 
at  last,  like  an  ominous  wave  that  disappears  in  foam, 
upon  the  rocks  of  intelligence,  soberness  and  calm  pub- 
lic judgment. 

He  was  emboldened  in  his  stand  by  the  fact  that  the 
Knights  not  only  showed  no  hostility  to  religion,  but  that 
their  declarations  were  of  the  opposite  tenor.  Powderly 
was  a  Catholic;  he  told  the  Cardinal  that  he  practised  his 
religion  faithfully  and  received  the  sacraments  regularly; 
that  he  was  not  a  member  of  the  Masons  or  any  other 
association  which  the  Church  had  condemned.  He  was 
aware  of  nothing  in  the  organization  of  the  Knights,  he 
vehemently  asserted,  which  was  contrary  to  the  laws  of 
the  Church. 

The  Cardinal  found  that  President  Cleveland  did  not 
see  anything  in  the  methods  of  the  Knights  which  was  un- 
patriotic or  hostile  to  national  institutions.    The  Presi- 


330  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

dent  had  expressed  sympathy  with  labor  akin  to  his  own 
when  they  had  conferred  and  he  told  the  Cardinal  of 
steps  on  which  he  was  then  meditating  for  the  ameliora- 
tion of  social  grievances  by  legislation.  The  Cardinal 
was  impressed  by  the  fact  that  Congress  was  striving 
earnestly  for  the  passage  of  laws  that  would  assert  some 
of  the  elementary  rights  of  the  working  population,  and 
he  did  not  wish  the  Church  to  take  a  stand  that  would 
be  less  liberal  and  progressive  than  that  of  the  civil 
authorities. 

Besides,  the  battle  against  economic  monopoly  enlisted 
his  fervent  support.  He  saw  in  the  growth  of  monopoly 
a  danger  not  only  to  the  just  interests  of  labor,  but  also 
to  American  institutions  as  a  whole,  and  he  felt  that  the 
control  of  the  country  by  organized  wealth  must  be  pre- 
vented at  all  costs. 

Within  the  Church  the  argument  had  been  pressed 
that  the  faith  of  Catholics  was  imperiled  by  their  mix- 
ing with  Protestants  in  the  Knights  of  Labor.  The  Car- 
dinal could  not  see  in  this  any  solid  basis  for  condemna- 
tion, for  he  held  that  in  the  great  body  of  the  American 
people,  a  majority  of  whom  were  non-Catholics,  it  was 
impossible  and  indeed  highly  undesirable  to  separate  per- 
sons of  different  religious  creeds  in  civil  affairs.  He  had 
confidence  in  the  fidelity  with  which  American  Catholic 
workmen  clung  to  their  faith,  and  was  most  anxious  to 
prevent  them  from  distrusting  the  Church  or  ceasing  to 
regard  her  as  the  friend  of  the  poor.  The  organization  of 
Catholic  labor  confraternities,  in  which  the  clergy  would 
be  present  and  exert  their  direct  influence,  he  did  not 
consider  necessary. 


DEFENSE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR  331 

One  of  the  most  weighty  grounds  for  the  indictment 
of  organized  labor  was  naturally  the  violence  which  had 
accompanied  some  of  the  then  recent  strikes.  No  one 
deplored  violence  in  labor  struggles  more  than  the  Car- 
dinal, but  he  was  not  willing  to  commit  himself  to  a 
general  denouncement  of  the  Knights  for  that  reason, 
because  the  chief  officers  of  that  order  reproved  violence 
and  exercised  their  influence  to  a  marked  extent  in  pre- 
venting strikers  from  transgressing  the  limits  of  legiti- 
mate action.  . 

Above  all,  he  felt  that  what  he  termed  "the  simplex, 
rights  of  humanity  and  justice"  were  being  denied,  and 
that  they  could  not  be  restored  without  some  regrettable 
lapses  into  errors  of  both  speech  and  action.  He  was 
sure  in  his  own  mind  that  condemnation  by  the  Church 
would  not  stop  either  the  growth  of  the  Knights  or  the 
labor  movement,  but  that  it  would  only  embitter  labon 
against  her  who  had  been  its  champion  for  centuries. 
The  most  weighty  concerns  of  the  immediate  future,  he 
held,  were  social. 

As  the  essence  of  the  question  presented  itself  to  his 
mind,  condemnation  of  the  Knights  was  not  only  unnec- 
essary, but  actually  dangerous  to  the  Church.  He  felt 
that  it  would  tend  to  encourage  the  cry  that  the  Church 
was  un-American  in  the  sense  that  she  would  be  resisting 
a  movement  which  the  governing  powers  of  the  country 
were  disposed  to  recognize  as  based  upon  justice.  He 
also  expressed  the  view  that  condemnation  would  fail  of 
its  object  because  he  did  not  believe  that  the  submissioi^ 
of  Catholic  workingmen  in  the  United  States  to  such  a 
course  could  be  obtained. 


332  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Several  Bishops  in  France,  and  not  a  small  number  of 
Catholic  writers,  voiced  alarm  at  the  advanced  and  lib- 
eral views  of  Gibbons  and  Manning.  The  element  in 
England  which  was  unable  to  understand  the  great  pur- 
poses of  Manning  was  eager  to  cry  "beware!";  but  in 
America,  as  the  task  of  Gibbons  developed  gnd  the  real 
significance  of  what  he  was  doing  came  to  be  clearly  seen, 
the  tone  of  comment  in  and  out  of  the  Church  became 
more  and  more  one  of  heartening  support. 

When  Gibbons  sailed  for  Europe  to  receive  the  red  hat, 
he  had  determined  to  remain  in  Rome  and  wage  the  battle 
for  labor  until  it  resulted  in  victory  or  defeat.  He  knew 
well  that  the  atmosphere  which  he  was  about  to  enter  was 
hostile  to  his  views ;  and  he  was  further  obstructed  by  the 
fact  that  every  appeal  that  he  could  make  was  to  be  met 
by  a  counter  appeal  from  Canada.  One  of  his  compan- 
ions on  the  voyage  to  Europe  was  Cardinal  Taschereau, 
on  whom  also  the  red  hat  was  to  be  bestowed,  and  part  of 
whose  mission  in  the  Eternal  City  was  to  urge  adherence 
to  the  judgment  condemning  the  Knights,  which  Gibbons 
had  set  himself  to  challenge. 

In  Rome  Gibbons  organized  his  campaign  with  the 
skill  of  a  master  of  statecraft.  With  the  active  help 
of  Archbishop  Ireland,  Bishop  Keane  and  Monsignor 
O'Coiuiell,  he  used  argument  and  pressure  in  turn  upon 
every  member  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Holy  Office  to 
produce  a  change  of  view.  In  the  face  of  what  seemed 
like  a  stone  wall  of  opposition,  all  his  aggressiveness  was 
aroused.  One  of  the  chief  obstacles  that  stood  in  his 
way  was  the  attitude  of  the  Commissary  of  the  Holy 
Office,  with  whom  he  had  a  heated  interview,  declaring 


DEFENSE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR  333 

that  he  would  hold  him  responsible  for  the  loss  of  souls 
in  America  if  the  Knights  were  condemned.  At  the  end 
of  the  interview,  that  important  official  promised  to  con- 
sider the  question  anew. 

Only  those  hostile  to  the  Knights  had  been  previously 
heard  at  Rome.  Opinion,  fixed  and  deliberate,  had  to  be 
assailed  in  its  powerful  citadel.  Gibbons  declared  to 
those  upon  whom  he  exerted  his  influence  that  if  the  con- 
demnation were  allowed  to  st^nd  it  would  be  ruinous  to 
the  financial  support  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States; 
that  it  would  turn  into  doubt  and  hostility  the  attitude 
of  the  people  toward  the  Holy  See,  and  would  lessen  the 
'  contributions  of  Peter's  Pence. 

Through  all  the  tension  of  the  struggle  he  was  sus- 
tained by  the  influence  of  Manning.  He  wrote  to  the 
English  Cardinal  March  14,  1887: 

"Your  esteemed  and  valued  favor  is  received,  in  which 
your  Eminence  is  graciously  pleased  to  assent  to  the  views 
submitted  to  the  Propaganda  regarding  .  .  .  the  Knights 
of  Labor.  I  cannot  sufficiently  express  to  you  how  much 
I  felt  strengthened  in  my  position  by  being  able  to  refer 
...  to  your  utterances  on  the  claims  of  the  working  man 
to  our  sympathy,  and  how  I  am  cheered  beyond  measure 
in  receiving  from  your  own  pen  an  endorsement  of  my 
sentiments  and  those  of  my  American  colleagues  now 
in  Rome.  God  grant  that  the  Church  of  America  may 
escape  the  dire  calamity  of  a  condemnation  which  would 
be  disastrous  to  the  future  of  religion  among  us  I 

"I  shall  be  exceedingly  grateful  to  your  Emmence  if 
you  can  send  me  a  copy  of  the  lecture  on  'The  Dignity 
and  Rights  of  Labor.'  We  are  indebted  more  than  you 
are  aware  to  the  influence  of  your  name  in  discussing  these 
social  questions  and  in  influencing  the  public  mind.    We 


334»  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

joyfully  adopt  your  Eminence   into  the   ranks  of  our 
Knighthood;'  you  have  nobly  won  your  spurs  I"  * 

Manning  lost  no  opportunity  of  urging  assent  at  Rome 
to  the  stand  taken  by  Gibbons.  He  used  the  effective 
argument  that  trade  unions  had  originated  in  the  Col- 
legia of  Rome,  saying:  "In  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria 
dell'  Orto  every  chapel  belongs  to  and  is  maintained  by 
some  college  or  universitas  of  various  trades." 

'A  form  of  expression  which  Cardinal  Gibbons  used  several  times  in 
his  correspondence  with  Cardinal  Manning  regarding  the  Knights  of 
Labor  question. 

'Leslie,  Henry  Edward  Manning,  His  Life  and  Labours,  pp.  361-362. 


I 


CHAPTER  XIX 
A  MEMORABLE  LETTER  TO  ROME 

Cardinal  Gibbons'  personal  campaign  in  Rome  in  be- 
half of  the  Knights  of  Labor  was  greatly  reenforced  by- 
formal  appeals  directed  to  the  authorities  of  the  Church. 
Under  date  of  February  20,  1887,  he  addressed  to  Car- 
dinal Simeoni,  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  for  presenta- 
tion to  the  Holy  Office,  a  report  on  the  whole  subject 
which  was  one  of  the  strongest  documents  he  ever  wrote. 
It  was  marked  not  only  by  broad  statesmanship,  search- 
ing logic  and  enlightened  foresight,  but  by  a  frankness 
in  setting  forth  the  dangers  which  he  believed  to  be  in- 
volved in  condemnation  of  the  Knights  that  was  little 
short  of  audacious. 

He  declared  that  any  attempt  to  crush  by  ecclesiastical 

condemnation  a  body  of  men  in  which  was  massed  a 

strength  of  more  than  500,000  voters  in  America  would 

be  considered  by  the  people  of  the  country  as  "not  less 

ridiculous  than  rash."     It  would  involve  the  risk  of  a 

waning  of  the  esteem  which  the  Church  had  won  among 

Americans,  and  of  "forfeiting  the  peace  and  prosperity 

which  form  so  admirable  a  contrast  with  her  condition  in 

some  so-called  Catholic  countries."     He  warned   that 

"angry  utterances  have  not  been  wanting  of  late,  and  it 

is  well  that  we  should  act  prudently." 

335 


336  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

On  the  question  of  the  effectiveness  of  condemnation, 
if  pronounced,  he  urged: 

/  "It  is  well  to  recognize  that  in  our  age  and  in  our  coun- 
try obedience  cannot  be  blind;  we  would  greatly  deceive 
ourselves  if  we  expect  it.  .  .  .  Our  Catholic  workingmen 
sincerely  believe  that  they  are  seeking  justice  and  seeking 
it  by  legitimate  means.  Condemnation  would  be  con- 
sidered both  false  and  unjust  and  therefore  not  binding. 
.  .  .  They  love  the  Church,  and  they  wish  to  save  their 
souls;  but  they  must  also  earn  their  living,  and  labor  is 
now  so  organized  that  without  belonging  to  the  organiza- 
\  tion  it  is  almost  impossible  to  earn  one's  living." 

His  vision  extended  to  forecasting  the  decline  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor  as  an  important  body  of  workingmen, 
which  actually  came  to  pass;  this  was  one  of  the  most 
moving  arguments  which  he  used.  The  organization,  he 
declared,  was  "unstable  and  transient;"  but  the  social 
agitation  would  continue  and  to  strike  at  one  of  the 
forms  which  it  took  "would  be  to  commence  a  war  with- 
out system  and  without  end. 


"  1 


"Hence,"  he  added,  "to  speak  with  the  most  profound 
respect,  but  also  with  the  frankness  which  duty  requires 
of  me,  it  seems  to  me  that  prudence  suggests,  and  that 
even  the  dignity  of  the  Church  demands,  that  we  should 
not  offer  to  America  an  ecclesiastical  protection  for  which 

*  While  there  were  500,ckx>  members  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  and 
125,000  members  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  at  that  time,  the 
aggregate  of  these  two  was,  as  Cardinal  Gibbons  believed,  insignificant 
when  compared  with  the  proportions  which  the  movement  would  attain. 
The  Knights,  as  he  predicted,  subsequently  declined  fast  as  an  organi- 
zation; but  he  lived  to  see  the  membership  of  the  American  Federation 
reach  more  than  4,000,000  in  1920.  In  addition  to  this,  the  membership 
of  the  railroad  brotherhoods,  not  directly  affiliated  with  the  Federation, 
was  43SiOoo  la  the  same  year. 


A  MEMORABLE  LETTER  TO  ROME         33T 

she  does  not  ask,  and  of  which  she  believes  she  has  no 
need." 

With  the  adroitness  which  he  knew  well  how  to  use 
when  occasion  warranted  it,  Gibbons  gave  the  Holy  OfRce 
an  opening  for  reversing  itself  by  pointing  out  differ- 
ences in  the  general  conditions  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada.     He  wrote: 

"We  would  consider  it  an  impertinence  on  our  part 
to  meddle  with  the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  another  coun- 
try which  has  a  Hierarchy  of  its  own,  and  with  whose 
social  conditions  we  do  not  pretend  to  be  acquainted. 
We  believe,  however,  that  the  circumstances  of  a 
people  almost  entirely  Catholic,  as  in  lower  Canada, 
must  be  very  different  from  those  of  a  mixed  population 
like  ours." 

The  text  of  this  letter,^  which  has  formed  one  of  the 
great  charters  of  the  labor  movement  throughout  the 
world,  was: 

"T<9  Hh  Eminence  Cardinal  Simeoni^  Prefect  of  the 
Sacred  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda: 

"Your  Eminence: 

"In  submitting  to  the  Holy  See  the  conclusions  which, 
after  several  months  of  attentive  observation  and  reflec- 
tion, seem  to  me  to  sum  up  the  truth  concerning  the 
association  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  I  feel  profoundly 
convinced  of  the  vast  importance  of  the  consequences 
attaching  to  this  question,  which  is  but  a  link  in  the 
great  chain  of  the  social  problems  of  our  day,  and 
especially  of  our  country. 

"In  treating  this  question  I  have  been  very  careful  to 

'A  copy  of  the  letter  in  French  is  in  the  Cathedral  archives,  Balti- 
more. The  English  translation  here  given  is  the  one  which  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Moniteur  de  Rome,  then  an  official  organ  of  the  Vatican. 


338  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

follow  as  my  constant  guide  the  spirit  of  the  encyclical 
letters,  in  which  our  Holy  Father  Leo  XIII  has  so  admir- 
ably set  forth  the  dangers  of  our  times  and  their  reme- 
dies, as  well  as  the  principles  by  which  we  are  to  recog- 
nize associations  condemned  by  the  Holy  See.  Such  was 
also  the  guide  of  the  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore 
in  its  teachings  concerning  the  principles  to  be  followed 
and  the  dangers  to  be  shunned  by  the  faithful  either  in  the 
choice  or  in  the  establishment  of  those  various  forms  of 
association  toward  which  the  spirit  of  our  popular  insti- 
tutions so  strongly  impels  them.  And,  considering  the 
evil  consequences  that  might  result  from  a  mistake  in  the 
treatment  of  organizations  which  often  count  their  mem- 
bers by  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands,  the  council 
wisely  ordained  that,  when  an  association  is  spread  over 
several  dioceses,  not  even  the  Bishop  of  one  of  these  dio- 
ceses shall  condemn  it,  but  shall  refer  the  case  to  a  stand- 
ing committee  consisting  of  all  the  Archbishops  of  the 
United  States ;  and  even  these  are  not  authorized  to  con- 
demn, unless  their  sentence  be  unanimous;  and  in  case 
they  fail  to  agree  unanimously,  then  only  the  supreme 
tribunal  of  the  Holy  See  can  impose  a  condemnation;  all 
this  in  order  to  avoid  error  and  confusion  of  discipline. 

"This  committee  of  Archbishops  held  a  meeting 
towards  the  end  of  last  October,  at  which  the  association 
of  the  Knights  of  Labor  was  specially  considered.  To 
this  we  were  not  impelled  by  the  request  of  any  of  our 
Bishops,  for  none  of  them  had  asked  it;  and  I  must  add 
that  among  all  the  Bishops  we  know  of  but  two  or  three 
who  desire  the  condemnation.  But  our  reason  was  the 
importance  attached  to  the  question  by  the  Lloly  See 
itself,  and  this  led  us  to  examine  it  with  all  possible  care. 
After  our  deliberations,  the  result  of  which  has  already 
been  communicated  to  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  the 
Propaganda,  only  two  out  of  the  twelve  Archbishops 
voted  for  condemnation;  and  their  reasons  were  power- 


A  MEMORABLE  LETTER  TO  ROME         339 

less  to  convince  the  others  of  either  the  justice  or  the 
prudence  of  such  a  condemnation. 

"In  the  following  considerations  I  wish  to  state  in  de- 
tail the  reasons  which  determined  the  vote  of  the  great 
majority  of  the  committee — reasons  whose  truth  and 
force  seem  to  me  all  the  more  evident  after  this  lapse  of 
time;  nor  will  I  fail  to  do  justice  to  the  arguments  ad- 
vanced on  the  other  side : 

"i.  In  the  first  place,  though  there  may  be  found  in 
the  constitution,  laws  and  official  declarations  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor  things  that  we  would  not  approve,  still, 
we  have  failed  to  find  in  them  those  elements  so  clearly 
pointed  out  by  the  Holy  See,  which  would  class  them 
among  condemned  associations: 

"(a)     In  their  form  of  initiation  there  is  no  oath. 

"(Z')  The  obligation  to  secrecy  by  which  they  keep 
the  knowledge  of  their  business  from  enemies  or  strangers 
is  not  such  as  to  hinder  Catholics  from  manifesting  every- 
thing to  competent  ecclesiastical  authority,  even  outside 
of  confession.  This  has  been  positively  declared  to  us  by 
their  chief  officers. 

"(c)  They  make  no  promise  of  blind  obedience.  The 
object  and  laws  of  the  association  are  distinctly  declared, 
and  the  obligation  of  obedience  does  not  go  beyond  them. 

*'{d)  They  not  only  profess  no  hostility  against  re- 
ligion or  the  Church,  but  their  declarations  are  quite  to 
the  contrary.  The  Third  Plenary  Council  commands  that 
condemnation  shall  not  be  passed  on  any  association  with- 
out the  previous  hearing  of  its  officers  or  representatives. 
Now,  their  president,  when  sending  me  a  copy  of  their 
constitution,  declared  that  he  is  a  devoted  Catholic;  that 
he  practises  his  religion  faithfully  and  receives  the  sacra- 
ments regularly;  that  he  belongs  to  no  Masonic  society 
or  other  association  condemned  by  the  Church;  that  he 
knows  nothing  in  the  organization  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  Church ;  that,  with  filial 


340  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

submission,  he  begs  the  pastors  of  the  Church  to  examine 
their  constitution  and  laws,  and  to  point  out  anything 
they  may  find  objectionable,  promising  to  see  to  its  cor- 
rection. Assuredly,  there  is  in  all  this  no  hostility  to  the 
authority  of  the  Church,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  disposi- 
tion in  every  way  praiseworthy.  After  their  convention, 
held  last  year  in  Richmond,  he  and  several  of  the  princi- 
pal members,  devout  Catholics,  made  similar  declarations 
concerning  the  action  of  that  convention,  the  documents 
of  which  we  expect  to  receive  shortly. 

"(e)  Nor  do  we  find  in  this  organization  any  hos- 
tility to  the  authority  and  laws  of  our  country.  Not  only 
does  nothing  of  the  kind  appear  in  their  constitution  and 
laws,  but  the  heads  of  our  civil  government  treat  with 
respect  the  cause  which  such  associations  represent.  The 
President  of  the  United  States  told  me  personally,  a  few 
weeks  ago,  that  he  then  had  under  consideration  a  pro- 
posed law  for  the  amelioration  of  certain  social  griev- 
ances, and  that  he  had  had  a  long  conversation  on  these 
topics  with  Mr.  Fowderly,  the  president  of  the  Knights 
of  Labor.  The  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  views  presented  by  President  Cleveland 
in  his  annual  message,  is  at  present  engaged  in  framing 
measures  for  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  the 
laboring  classes,  in  whose  complaints  they  acknowledge 
that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  truth.  And  our  political 
parties,  far  from  considering  them  the  enemies  of  the 
country,  vie  with  each  other  in  championing  the  evident 
rights  of  the  workingmen,  who  seek  not  to  resist  or  over- 
throw the  laws,  but  only  to  obtain  just  legislation  by  con- 
stitutional and  legitimate  means. 

"These  considerations,  which  show  that  in  these  asso- 
ciations those  elements  are  not  to  be  found  which  the 
Holy  See  has  condemned,  lead  us  to  study,  in  the  second 
place,  the  evils  which  the  association  contends  against  and 
the  nature  of  the  conflict. 


A  MEMORABLE  LETTER  TO  ROME         341 

"2.  That  there  exist  among  us,  as  in  all  other  coun- 
tries of  the  world,  grave  and  threatening  social  evils,  pub- 
lic injustices  which  call  for  strong  resistance  and  legal 
remedy,  is  a  fact  which  no  one  dares  to  deny — a  fact  al- 
ready acknowledged  by  the  Congress  and  the  President 
of  the  United  States.  Without  entering  into  the  sad  de- 
tails of  these  evils,  whose  full  discussion  is  not  necessary, 
I  will  only  mention  that  monoplies,  on  the  part  of  both 
individuals  and  of  corporations,  have  everywhere  called 
forth  not  only  the  complaints  of  our  working  classes,  but 
also  the  opposition  of  our  public  men  and  legislators ;  that 
the  efforts  of  monopolists,  not  always  without  success,  to 
control  legislation  to  their  own  profit,  cause  serious  appre- 
hensions among  the  disinterested  friends  of  liberty;  that 
the  heartless  avarice  which,  through  greed  of  gain,  piti- 
lessly grinds  not  only  the  men,  but  even  the  women  and 
children  in  various  employments,  makes  it  clear  to  all 
who  love  humanity  and  justice  that  it  is  not  only  the  right 
of  the  laboring  classes  to  protect  themselves,  but  the  duty 
of  the  whole  people  to  aid  them  in  finding  a  remedy 
against  the  dangers  with  which  both  civilization  and 
social  order  are  menaced  by  avarice,  oppression  and^ 
corruption. 

"It  would  be  vain  to  dispute  either  the  existence  of  the 
evils,  or  the  right  of  legitimate  resistance,  or  the  necessity 
of  a  remedy.  At  most,  a  doubt  might  be  raised  about  the 
legitimacy  of  the  form  of  resistance  and  of  the  remedy 
employed  by  the  Knights  of  Labor.  This,  then,  is  the 
next  point  to  be  examined. 

"3.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that,  for  the  attainment 
of  any  public  end,  association — the  organization  of  all 
interested — is  the  most  efficacious  means — a  means  alto- 
gether natural  and  just.  This  is  so  evident,  and  besides, 
so  conformable  to  the  genius  of  our  country,  of  our  essen- 
tially popular  social  conditions,  that  it  is  unnecessary  to 
insist  upon  it.    It  is  almost  the  only  means  to  public  at- 


342  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

tention,  to  give  force  to  the  most  legitimate  resistance,  to 
add  weight  to  the  most  just  demands. 

"Now,  there  already  exists  an  organization  which  pre- 
sents innumerable  attractions  and  advantages,  but  with 
which  our  Catholic  workingmen,  filially  obedient  to  the 
Holy  See,  refuse  to  unite  themselves ;  this  is  the  Masonic 
Order,  which  exists  everywhere  in  our  country  and  which, 
as  Mr.  Powderly  has  expressly  pointed  out  to  us,  unites 
employers  and  employed  in  a  brotherhood  very  advan- 
tageous to  the  latter,  but  which  numbers  in  its  ranks 
hardly  a  single  Catholic.  Nobly  renouncing  advantages 
which  the  Church  and  conscience  forbid,  our  workingmen 
join  associations  in  no  way  in  conflict  with  religion,  seek- 
ing nothing  but  mutual  protection  and  help,  and  the  legit- 
imate assertion  of  their  rights.  Must  they  here  also  find 
themselves  threatened  with  condemnation,  hindered  from 
their  only  means  of  self-defense? 

"4.  Let  us  now  consider  the  objections  made  against 
this  sort  of  organization: 

"(a)  It  is  objected  that  in  such  organization,  Catho- 
lics are  mixed  with  Protestants,  to  the  peril  of  their  faith. 
Naturally,  yes ;  they  are  mixed  with  Protestants  at  their 
work;  for,  in  a  mixed  people  like  ours,  the  separation  of 
religious  creeds  in  civil  affairs  is  an  impossibility.  But 
to  suppose  that  the  faith  of  our  Catholics  suffers  thereby 
is  not  to  know  the  Catholic  working  men  of  America,  who 
are  not  like  the  working  men  of  so  many  European  coun- 
tries— misguided  children,  estranged  from  their  Mother, 
the  Church,  and  regarding  her  with  suspicion  and  dread 
— but  intelligent,  well-instructed,  and  devoted  Catholics, 
ready  to  give  their  blood,  if  necessary,  as  they  continually 
give  their  hard-earned  means,  for  her  support  and  protec- 
tion. And,  in  fact,  it  is  not  here  a  question  of  Catholics 
mixed  with  Protestants,  but  rather  that  Protestants  are 
admitted  to  share  in  the  advantages  of  an  association, 
many  of  whose  members  and  officers  are  Catholics;  and. 


A  MEMORABLE  LETTER  TO  ROME        343 

in  a  country  like  ours,  their  exclusion  would  be  simply 
impossible. 

"(i?)  But  it  is  asked,  instead  of  such  an  organization^ 
could  there  not  be  confraternities,  in  which  the  working 
men  would  be  united  under  the  direction  of  the  clergy 
and  the  influence  of  religion"?  I  answer  frankly  that  I 
do  not  consider  this  either  possible  or  necessary  in  our 
country.  I  sincerely  admire  the  efforts  of  this  sort  which 
are  made  in  countries  where  the  working  people  are  led 
astray  by  the  enemies  of  religion;  but  thanks  be  to  God, 
that  is  not  our  condition.  We  find  that  in  our  country 
the  presence  and  direct  influence  of  the  clergy  would  not 
be  advisable  where  our  citizens,  without  distinction  of 
religious  belief,  come  together  in  regard  to  their  industrial 
interests  alone.  Short  of  that,  we  have  abundant  means 
for  making  our  working  people  faithful  Catholics;  and  / 
simple  good  sense  advises  us  not  to  go  to  extremes. 

"(c)  Again,  it  is  objected  that,  in  such  organizations. 
Catholics  are  exposed  to  the  evil  influences  of  the  most 
dangerous  associates,  even  of  atheists,  communists  and 
anarchists.  That  is  true;  but  it  is  one  of  those  trials  of 
faith  which  our  brave  American  Catholics  are  accustomed 
to  meet  almost  daily,  and  which  they  know  how  to  face 
with  good  sense  and  firmness.  The  press  of  our  country 
tells  us,  and  the  president  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  has 
related  to  us,  how  these  violent,  aggressive  elements  have 
endeavored  to  control  the  association,  or  to  inject  poison 
into  its  principles;  but  they  also  inform  us  with  what  de- 
termination these  machinators  have  been  repulsed  and 
beaten. 

"The  presence  among  our  citizens  of  those  dangerous 
social  elements  which  have  mostly  come  from  certain 
countries  of  Europe,  is  assuredly  for  us  an  occasion  of 
great  regret  and  of  vigilant  precautions ;  it  is  a  fact,  how- 
ever, which  we  have  to  accept,  but  which  the  close  union 
between  the  Church  and  her  children  which  exists  in  our 


\ 


344  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

country  renders  comparatively  free  from  danger.  In 
truth,  the  only  thing  from  which  we  would  fear  serious 
danger  would  be  a  cooling  of  this  relationship  between  the 
Church  and  her  children;  and  I  know  nothing  that  would 
be  more  likely  to  occasion  it  than  imprudent  condemna- 
tions. 

/  "(d)  A  specially  weighty  charge  is  drawn  from  the 
outbursts  of  violence,  even  to  bloodshed,  which  have  ac- 
companied several  of  the  strikes  inaugurated  by  labor 
organizations.  Concerning  this,  three  things  are  to  be 
remarked — first,  strikes  are  not  an  invention  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  but  a  means  almost  everywhere  and 
always  resorted  to  by  the  working  classes  to  protect  them- 
selves against  what  they  consider  injustice,  and  in  asser- 
tion of  what  they  believe  to  be  their  just  rights;  secondly, 
in  such  a  struggle  of  the  poor  and  indignant  multitudes 
against  hard  and  obstinate  monopoly,  outbursts  of  anger 
are  almost  as  inevitable  as  they  are  greatly  to  be  re- 
gretted; thirdly,  the  laws  and  the  chief  authorities  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  far  from  encouraging  violence  or  the 
occasions  of  it,  exercise  a  powerful  influence  to  hinder  it, 
and  to  retain  strikes  within  the  limits  of  good  order  and 
V  of  legitimate  action. 

"A  careful  examination  of  the  acts  of  violence  accom- 
panying the  struggle  between  capital  and  labor  last  year 
leaves  us  convinced  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  attribute 
them  to  the  association  of  the  Knights  of  Labor;  for  this 
association  was  but  one  among  the  numerous  labor  or- 
ganizations that  took  part  in  the  strikes,  and  their  chief 
officers  used  every  possible  effort,  as  disinterested  wit- 
nesses testify,  to  appease  the  anger  of  the  multitudes,  and 
to  hinder  the  excesses,  which  therefore,  in  my  judgment, 
could  not  justly  be  attributed  to  them.  Doubtless,  among 
the  Knights  of  Labor,  as  among  the  thousands  of  other 
Working  men,  there  are  to  be  found  passionate  or  even 
wicked  men  who  have  committed  inexcusable  deeds  of 


A  MEMORABLE  LETTER  TO  ROME         345 

violence,  and  have  instigated  their  associates  to  the  same ; 
but  to  attribute  this  to  the  association  would,  it  seems 
to  me,  be  as  unreasonable  as  to  attribute  to  the  Church 
the  follies  or  the  crimes  of  her  children  against  which 
she  strives  and  protests. 

"I  repeat  that,  in  such  a  struggle  of  the  great  masses 
of  the  people  against  the  mail-clad  power  which,  as  it  is 
acknowledged,  often  refuses  them  the  simple  rights  of 
humanity  and  justice,  it  is  vain  to  expect  that  every  error 
and  every  act  of  violence  can  be  avoided;  and  to  dream 
that  this  struggle  can  be  hindered,  or  that  we  can  deter 
the  multitudes  from  organizing,  which  is  their  only  hope 
of  success,  would  be  to  ignore  the  nature  and  forces  of 
human  society  in  times  like  ours.  Christian  prudence  evi- 
dently counsels  us  to  hold  the  hearts  of  the  multitudes  by 
the  bonds  of  love,  in  order  to  control  their  actions  by  the 
principles  of  faith,  justice  and  charity;  to  acknowledge 
frankly  what  is  true  and  just  in  their  cause,  in  order  to 
deter  them  from  what  is  false  and  criminal,  and  thus  to 
turn  into  a  legitimate,  peaceable  and  beneficent  contest 
what  might  easily,  by  a  course  of  repulsive  severity,  be- 
come for  the  masses  of  our  people  a  dread  volcanic  force 
like  unto  that  which  society  fears  and  the  Church  deplores 
in  Europe. 

"Upon  this  point  I  insist  strongly,  because,  from  an 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  social  conditions  of  our 
country,  I  am  profoundly  convinced  that  here  we  are 
touching  upon  a  subject  which  not  only  concerns  the 
rights  of  the  working  classes,  who  ought  to  be  especially 
dear  to  the  Church  which  our  Lord  sent  forth  to  preach 
His  Gospel  to  the  poor,  but  with  which  are  intimately 
bound  up  the  fundamental  interests  of  the  Church  and  of 
human  society  for  the  future.  This  is  a  point  which  I 
desire,  in  a  few  additional  words,  to  develop  more  clearly. 

"5.  Whoever  meditates  upon  the  ways  in  which  Di- 
vine Providence  is  guiding  mankind  in  our  days  can  not 


346  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

fail  to  remark  how  important  is  the  part  which  the  power 
of  the  people  takes  in  shaping  the  events  of  the  present, 
and  which  it  is  evidently  destined  to  take  in  molding  the 
destinies  of  the  future.  We  behold,  with  profound  re- 
gret, the  efforts  of  the  prince  of  darkness  to  make  this 
power  dangerous  to  the  social  weal  by  withdrawing  the 
masses  of  the  people  from  the  influence  of  religion,  and 
impelling  them  towards  the  ruinous  paths  of  license  and 
anarchy.  Hitherto  our  country  has  presented  a  spectacle 
of  a  most  consolingly  different  character — that  of  a  pop- 
ular power  regulated  by  love  of  good  order,  respect  for 
religion,  by  obedience  to  the  authority  of  the  laws;  not  a 
democracy  of  license  and  violence,  but  that  true  democ- 
racy which  aims  at  the  general  prosperity  through  the 
means  of  sound  principles  and  good  social  order. 
/  "In  order  to  preserve  so  desirable  a  state  of  things  it 
/  is  absolutely  necessary  that  religion  should  continue  to 
possess  the  affections  and  thus  rule  the  conduct  of  the 
multitudes.  As  Cardinal  Manning  has  well  written,  'a 
new  task  is  before  us.  The  Church  has  no  longer  to  deal 
with  Parliaments  and  princes,  but  with  the  masses  and 
with  the  people.  Whether  we  will  or  no,  this  is  our 
work;  we  need  a  new  spirit  and  a  new  law  of  life.'  To 
lose  influence  over  the  people  would  be  to  lose  the  future 
altogether;  and  it  is  by  the  heart,  far  more  than  by  the 
understanding,  that  we  must  hold  and  guide  this  immense 
power,  so  mighty  either  for  good  or  for  evil. 

"Among  all  the  glorious  titles  which  the  Church's  his- 
tory has  deserved  for  her  there  is  not  one  which  at  present 
gives  her  so  great  influence  as  that  of  'Friend  of  the  Peo- 
ple.' Assuredly,  in  our  democratic  country,  it  is  this  title 
which  wins  for  the  Catholic  Church  not  only  the  enthusi- 
astic devotedness  of  the  millions  of  her  children,  but  also 
the  respect  and  admiration  of  all  our  citizens,  whatever 
be  their  religious  belief.  It  is  the  power  of  this  title 
which  renders  persecution  almost  an  impossibility,  and 


A  MEMORABLE  LETTER  TO  ROME        347 

which  draws  towards  our  Holy  Church  the  great  heart  of 
the  American  people. 

"And  since  it  is  acknowledged  by  all  that  the  great 
questions  of  the  future  are  not  those  of  war,  of  commerce 
or  of  finance,  but  the  social  questions — the  questions 
which  concern  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  the 
great  popular  masses,  and  especially  of  the  working  peo- 
ple— it  is  evidently  of  supreme  importance  that  the 
Church  should  always  be  found  on  the  side  of  humanity 
— of  justice  towards  the  multitudes  who  compose  the 
body  of  the  human  family.  As  the  same  Cardinal  Man- 
ning has  wisely  written,  'I  know  I  am  treading  on  a  very 
difficult  subject,  but  I  feel  confident  of  this,  that  we  must 
face  it,  and  that  we  must  face  it  calmly,  justly,  and  with 
a  willingness  to  put  labor  and  the  profits  of  labor  second 
— the  moral  state  and  domestic  life  of  the  whole  working 
population  first.  I  will  not  venture  to  draw  up  such  an 
act  of  Parliament  further  than  to  lay  down  this  principle. 
.  .  .  These  things  (the  present  condition  of  the  poor  in 
England)  can  not  go  on;  these  things  ought  not  to  go  on. 
The  accumulation  of  wealth  in  the  land,  the  piling  up  of 
wealth  like  mountains,  in  the  possession  of  classes  or 
individuals,  can  not  go  on.  No  Commonwealth  can  rest 
on  such  foundations.'  * 

"In  our  country,  above  all,  this  social  amelioration  is 
the  inevitable  programme  of  the  future,  and  the  position 
which  the  Church  should  hold  towards  it  is  surely  obvious. 
She  can  certainly  not  favor  the  extremes  to  which  the 
poor  multitudes  are  naturally  inclined;  but,  I  repeat,  she 
must  withhold  them  from  these  extremes  by  the  bonds  of 
affection,  by  the  maternal  desire  which  she  will  manifest 
for  the  concession  of  all  that  is  just  and  reasonable  in 
their  demands,  and  by  the  maternal  blessing  which  she 
will  bestow  upon  every  legitimate  means  for  improving 
the  condition  of  the  people. 

* Mitcellanies,  Vol.  II,  p.  8i. 


348  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"6.  Now  let  us  consider  for  a  moment  the  conse- 
quences which  would  inevitably  follow  from  a  contrary 
course — from  a  course  of  want  of  sympathy  for  the  work- 
ing class,  of  suspicion  for  their  aims,  of  ready  condemna- 
tion for  their  methods. 

"(a)  First,  there  would  be  the  evident  danger  of  the 
Church's  losing,  in  popular  estimation,  her  right  to  be 
considered  the  friend  of  the  people.  The  logic  of  the 
popular  heart  goes  swiftly  to  its  conclusions,  and  this  con- 
clusion would  be  most  pernicious  both  for  the  people  and 
for  the  Church.  To  lose  the  heart  of  the  people  would 
be  a  misfortune  for  which  the  friendship  of  the  few  rich 
and  powerful  would  be  no  compensation. 

"(b)  There  would  be  a  great  danger  of  rendering  hos- 
tile to  the  Church  the  political  power  of  our  country, 
which  has  openly  taken  sides  with  the  millions  who  are 
demanding  justice  and  the  improvement  of  their  condi- 
tion. The  accusation  of  being  un-American — that  is  to 
say,  alien  to  our  national  spirit — is  the  most  powerful 
weapon  which  the  enemies  of  the  Church  can  employ 
against  her.  It  was  this  cry  which  aroused  the  Know 
Nothing  persecution  thirty  years  ago,  and  the  same  would 
be  used  again  if  the  opportunity  offered.  To  appreciate 
the  gravity  of  this  danger  it  is  well  to  remark  that  not 
only  are  the  rights  of  the  working  classes  loudly  pro- 
claimed by  each  of  our  two  great  political  parties,  but  it 
is  not  improbable  that,  in  our  approaching  national  elec- 
tions, there  will  be  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  President 
of  the  United  States  as  the  special  representative  of  the 
popular  complaints  and  demands. 

"Now,  to  seek  to  crush  by  an  ecclesiastical  condemna- 
tion an  organization  which  represents  more  than  500,000 
votes,  and  which  has  already  so  respectable  and  so  uni- 
versally recognized  a  place  in  the  political  arena,  would, 
to  speak  frankly,  be  considered  by  the  American  people 
as  not  less  ridiculous  than  rash.     To  alienate  from  our- 


A  MEMORABLE  LETTER  TO  ROME    349 

selves  the  friendship  of  the  people  would  be  to  run  great 
risk  of  losing  the  respect  which  the  Church  has  won  in 
the  estimation  of  the  American  nation,  and  of  forfeiting 
the  peace  and  prosperity  which  form  so  admirable  a  con- 
trast with  her  condition  in  some  so-called  Catholic  coun- 
tries. Angry  utterances  have  not  been  wanting  of  late, 
and  it  is  well  that  we  should  act  prudently. 

"(c)  A  third  danger — and  the  one  which  most  keenly 
touches  our  hearts — is  the  risk  of  losing  the  love  of  the 
children  of  the  Church,  and  of  pushing  them  into  an  atti- 
tude of  resistance  against  their  Mother.  The  world  pre- 
sents no  more  beautiful  spectacle  than  that  of  their  filial 
devotion  and  obedience;  but  it  is  well  to  recognize  that, 
in  our  age  and  in  our  country,  obedience  can  not  be  blind. 
We  would  greatly  deceive  ourselves  if  we  expected  it. 
Our  Catholic  working  men  sincerely  believe  that  they  are 
only  seeking  justice,  and  seeking  it  by  legitimate  means. 
A  condemnation  would  be  considered  both  false  and  un- 
just, and,  therefore,  not  binding.  We  might  preach  to 
them  submission  and  confidence  in  the  Church's  judg- 
ment; but  these  good  dispositions  could  hardly  go  so  far. 
They  love  the  Church,  and  they  wish  to  save  their  souls; 
but  they  must  also  earn  their  living,  and  labor  is  now 
so  organized  that  without  belonging  to  the  organization, 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  earn  one's  living. 

"Behold,  then,  the  consequences  to  be  feared.  Thou- 
sands of  the  Church's  most  devoted  children,  whose  affec- 
tion is  her  greatest  comfort,  and  whose  free  offerings  are 
her  chief  support,  would  consider- themselves  repulsed  by 
their  Mother  and  would  live  without  practising  their  re- 
ligion. Catholics  who  have  hitherto  shunned  the  secret 
societies  would  be  sorely  tempted  to  join  their  ranks. 
The  Holy  See,  which  has  constantly  received  from  the 
Catholics  of  America  proofs  of  almost  unparalleled  de- 
votedness,  would  be  considered  not  as  a  paternal  author- 
ity, but  as  a  harsh  and  unjust  power.    Surely  these  are 


350  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

consequences  which  wisdom  and  prudence  counsel  us  to 
avoid. 

"7.  But,  besides  the  dangers  that  would  result  from 
such  a  condemnation,  and  the  impracticability  of  putting 
it  into  effect,  it  is  also  very  important  that  we  should  care- 
fully consider  another  reason  against  condemnation,  aris- 
ing from  the  unstable  and  transient  character  of  the  or- 
ganization in  question.  It  is  frequently  remarked  by  the 
press  and  by  attentive  observers  that  this  special  form  of 
association  has  in  it  so  little  permanence  that,  in  its  pres- 
ent shape,  it  is  not  likely  to  last  many  years.-  Whence  it 
follows  that  it  is  not  necessary,  even  if  it  were  just  and 
prudent,  to  level  the  sole  condemnations  of  the  Church 
against  so  evanescent  an  object.  The  social  agitation  it- 
self will,  indeed,  last  as  long  as  there  are  social  evils  to 
be  remedied ;  but  the  forms  of  organization  meant  for  the 
attainment  of  this  end  are  naturally  provisional  and 
short-lived.  They  are  also  very  numerous,  for  I  have 
already  remarked  that  the  Knights  of  Labor  is  only  one 
among  many  labor  organizations. 

"To  strike,  then,  at  one  of  these  forms,  would  be  to 
commence  a  war  without  system  and  without  end;  it 
would  be  to  exhaust  the  forces  of  the  Church  in  chasing 
a  crowd  of  changing  and  uncertain  spectres.  The 
American  people  behold  with  perfect  composure  and  con- 
fidence the  progress  of  our  social  contest,  and  have  not 
the  least  fear  of  not  being  able  to  protect  themselves 
against  any  excesses  or  dangers  that  may  occasionally 
arise.  Hence,  to  speak  with  the  most  profound  respect, 
but  also  with  the  frankness  which  duty  requires  of  me, 
it  seems  to  me  that  prudence  suggests,  and  that  even  the 
dignity  of  the  Church  demands,  that  we  should  not  offer 
to  America  an  ecclesiastical  protection  for  which  she  does 
not  ask,  and  of  which  she  believes  she  has  no  need. 

"8.  In  all  this  discussion,  I  have  not  at  all  spoken  of 
Canada,  nor  of  the  condemnation  concerning  the  Knights 


A  MEMORABLE  LETTER  TO  ROME         351 

of  Labor  in  Canada ;  for  we  would  consider  it  an  imperti- 
nence on  our  part  to  meddle  with  the  ecclesiastical  affairs 
of  another  country  which  has  a  Hierarchy  of  its  own,  and 
with  whose  social  conditions  we  do  not  pretend  to  be 
acquainted.  We  believe,  however,  that  the  circumstances 
of  a  people  almost  entirely  Catholic,  as  in  lower  Canada, 
must  be  very  different  from  those  of  a  mixed  population 
like  ours;  moreover,  that  the  documents  submitted  to  the 
Holy  Office  are  not  the  present  constitution  of  the  organ- 
ization in  our  country,  and  that  we,  therefore,  ask  nothing 
involving  an  inconsistency  on  the  part  of  the  Holy  See, 
which  passed  sentence  'localiter  et  juxta  exposita.* 

"It  is  of  the  United  States  that  we  speak,  and  we  trust 
that  we  are  not  presumptuous  in  believing  that  we  are 
competent  to  judge  about  the  state  of  things  in  our  own 
country.  Now,  as  I  have  already  indicated,  out  of  the 
seventy-five  Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  the  United 
States,  there  are  about  five  who  desire  the  condemnation 
of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  such  as  they  are  in  our  own 
country;  so  that  our  Hierarchy  are  almost  unanimous  in 
protesting  against  such  a  condemnation.  Such  a  fact 
ought  to  have  great  weight  in  deciding  the  question.  If 
there  are  difficulties  in  the  case,  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
prudence  and  experience  of  our  Bishops  and  the  wise 
rules  of  the  Third  Plenary  Council  ought  to  suffice  for 
their  solution. 

"Finally,  to  sum  up  all,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  Holy 
See  could  not  decide  to  condemn  an  association  under 
the  following  circumstances : 

"1.  When  the  condemnation  does  not  seem  to  be 
justified  either  by  the  letter  or  the  spirit  of  its  constitu- 
tion, its  laws  and  the  declaration  of  its  chiefs. 

"2.  When  the  condemnation  does  not  seem  neces- 
sary, in  view  of  the  transient  form  of  the  organization 
and  the  social  condition  of  the  United  States. 

"3.     When  it  does  not  seem  to  be  prudent,  because  of 


352  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

the  reality  of  the  grievances  complained  of  by  the  work- 
ing classes,  and  their  acknowledgment  by  the  American 
people. 

"4.  When  it  would  be  dangerous  for  the  reputation 
of  the  Church  in  our  democratic  country,  and  might  even 
lead  to  persecution. 

"5.  When  it  would  probably  be  inefficacious^  owing 
to  the  general  conviction  that  it  would  be  unjust. 

"6.  When  it  would  be  destructive  instead  of  bene- 
ficial in  its  effects,  impelling  the  children  of  the  Church 
to  disobey  their  Mother,  and  even  to  enter  condemned 
societies,  which  they  have  thus  far  shunned. 

"7.  When  it  would  turn  into  suspicion  and  hostility 
the  singular  devotedness  of  our  Catholic  people  towards 
the  Holy  See. 

"8.  When  it  would  be  regarded  as  a  cruel  blow  to 
the  authority  of  Bishops  in  the  United  States,  who,  it 
is  well  known,  protest  against  such  a  condemnation. 

"Now,  I  hope  that  the  considerations  here  presented 
have  sufficiently  shown  that  such  would  be  the  effect  of 
condemnation  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  in  the  United 
States. 

"Therefore,  I  leave  the  decision  of  the  case,  with 
fullest  confidence,  to  the  wisdom  and  prudence  of  your 
Eminence  and  the  Holy  See. 

"J.  Card.  Gibbons, 
''Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 

"Rome,  February  20,  1887." 


CHAPTER  XX 
VICTORY  FOR  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR 

Pleas  such  as  Cardinal  Gibbons  made  in  behalf  of 
the  Knights  of  Labor  could  not  fail  to  exert  a  powerful 
influence.  As  the  tide  swayed,  Bishop  Keane  wrote  from 
Rome  to  Cardinal  Manning: 

"You  will  see  how  the  utterances  which  have  forever 
secured  to  your  Eminence  the  noble  title  of  'friend  of 
the  people'  have  done  our  Cardinal  good  service  in  his, 
defense  of  the  rights  of  the  working  millions.  He  had 
an  interview  this  morning  on  this  subject  with  the  chief 
officials  of  the  Holy  Office,  with  most  gratifying  results. 
It  was  easy  to  see  that  in  his  words  they  felt  the  weight 
of  the  whole  Hierarchy,  the  whole  clergy,  and  the  whole 
people  of  America,  and  that  his  sentiments  had  already 
produced  among  them  an  evident  change  of  front.  A 
few  weeks  ago  the  drift  was  towards  condemnation,  re- 
gardless of  the  widespread,  disastrous  consequences  that 
would  inevitably  have  ensued.  Today  the  keynote  was 
that  the  convictions  of  the  Bishops  of  America  are  the 
safest  guide  of  the  Holy  Office  in  its  action  on  American 
affairs,  and  that  they  will  let  well  enough  alone."  ^ 

In  another  letter  to  the  Cardinal  of  Westminster,  April 
23,  Keane  told  thus  of  some  of  the  discouragements  which 
he  had  been  facing: 

*  Letter  of  February  28,   1887,  quoted  by  Leslie. 

353 


354  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

f  "Mgr.  Jacobini  was  in  favor  of  its  [the  appeal's] 
publication  in  the  Moniteur^  which  I  feel  sure  Car- 
dinal Simeoni  would  not  have  authorized.  He  is  the 
embodiment  of  timid  and  suspicious  conservatism.  I 
explained  to  him  how  an  advocacy  of  popular  rights  was 
no  friendliness  to  Socialism,  and  that  our  aim  was — 
recognizing  the  inevitable  tendency  to  democracy — not 
to  leave  it  to  be  ruled  by  the  devil,  but  to  hold  it  in  the 
ways  of  God.  He  took  it  all  with  his  gentle  smile,  which 
always  seems  to  me  half  consent  and  half  fear.  He  has 
a  mortal  dread  of  newspapers.  We  can  expect  from  him 
only  the  toleration  of  our  ideas.  Cardinal  Simeoni,  and 
probably  others  with  him,  linked  together  the  labor  move- 
ment in  America  and  the  Home  Rule  movement  in  Ire- 
land; and  the  dire  colors  in  which  poor  Ireland  is  now 
being  painted  cast  a  glare  of  suspicion  upon  us,  too.  The 
times  are  certainly  critical,  but  we  know  we  are  advanc- 

V      ing  truth  and  justice."  ^ 

Although  Gibbons'  letter  to  the  Propaganda  had  not 
been  intended  for  the  public  eye,  a  newspaper  corre- 
spondent contrived  to  get  possession  of  a  copy  and  it 
was  published  in  America  and  Europe.  The  Cardinal 
was  surprised  one  day  to  receive  cable  messages  of  con- 
gratulation from  home,  and  in  a  short  time  he  learned 
that  the  argument  which  he  had  framed  for  the  Curia 
alone  was  a  theme  of  discussion  throughout  the  civilized 
world. 

The  case  was  won  after  weary  months  of  struggle.  Not 
only  did  Rome  decide  not  to  forbid  the  organization  of 
the  Knights  in  the  United  States,  but  the  ban  was  lifted 
in  Canada.  The  opposition  subsided,  and  there  was  a 
chorus  of  acclamation  for  the  American  Cardinal  who, 

'Leslie,  p.  363. 


VICTORY  FOR  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR  355 

only  a  short  time  before,  had  been  regarded  with  doubt 
and  suspicion  as  an  upholder  of  the  forces  of  social  up- 
heaval. The  decision  was  hailed  as  emphasizing  the 
Church's  championship  of  the  poor.  Said  the  Moniteur 
de  Rome: 

"His  Eminence's  document  has  been  widely  com- 
mented upon  by  the  newspapers  throughout  the  United 
States.  They  have  unanimously  recognized  in  it  not 
only  a  great  benefit  conferred  upon  the  millions  of  work- 
ingmen  who  compose  the  great  mass  of  people  in  America 
and  in  every  other  country,  but  also  a  victory  for  the 
Catholic  Church,  which  in  showing  herself  the  friend 
of  the  people  naturally  secures  their  affections.  ...  As 
a  matter  of  course  a  few  journals — organs  of  the  monopo- 
lies— have  uttered  their  protest;  but  their  voice  is 
scarcely  being  heard  amid  the  general  applause." 

England  echoed  the  commendation.  Cardinal  Man- 
ning wrote : 

*T  have  read  with  great  assent  Cardinal  Gibbons' 
document  in  relation  to  the  Knights  of  Labor.  The  Holy 
See  will,  I  am  sure,  be  convinced  by  his  exposition  of  the 
state  of  the  new  world.  I  hope  it  will  open  a  new  field 
of  thought  and  action.  .  .  .  The  Church  is  the  mother, 
friend  and  protector  of  the  people.  As  the  Lord  walked 
among  them,  so  His  Church  lives  among  them."  ^ 

Bishop  Keane,  in  a  burst  of  gratitude,  wrote  to  Man- 
ning: 

"The  clear,  strong,  wise  words  of  your  Eminence's  let- 
ters will  be  a  bulwark  to  the  truth  and  a  rebuke  to  mis- 
chief-makers. The  impression  produced  here  seems  to 
be  excellent.    Nay,  our  victory  is  already  won.    Cardinal 

"Taylor,   The   Cardinal  Democrat,  p.   180. 


356  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Taschereau  has  gone  home  with  directions  from  the  Holy 
Office  to  grant  absolution  to  all  the  thousands  of  poor 
fellows  who  have  been  cut  off  from  the  Sacraments  by 
the  condemnation  in  Canada,  and  there  does  not  seem  to 
be  any  danger  now  of  a  condemnation  in  America.  Deo 
gr alias  r  * 

XThe  acuteness  of  the  labor  question  at  the  time 
was  intense,  and  there  was  no  doubt  that  a  large  body 
of  conservatives  throughout  the  world  had  felt  a  shock. 
Puck,  the  comic  weekly,  went  so  far  as  to  depict  the 
Cardinal  as  imparting  a  blessing  with  uplifted  hands  to 
a  body  of  riotous  working  people  pursuing  a  non-union 
man.  The  tumult  was  at  length  stilled,  and  the  adjust- 
ment of  labor  and  capital  proceeded  in  America,  for  the 
most  part,  on  natural  and  orderly  lines. 

No  one  rejoiced  more  than  Leo  XIII  that  Gibbons  had 
again  proved  himself  to  be  a  true  spokesman  of  the  west- 
ern democracy,  in  which  the  Pontiff  beheld  the  greatest 
hope  for  the  Church's  development  of  her  spiritual  mis- 
sion. Throughout  the  remainder  of  his  Pontificate,  he 
retained  vividly  the  views  of  the  labor  question  which 
Gibbons  had  helped  to  impress  upon  him,  rejoicing  at 
the  opportunity  to  put  the  Church  in  touch  with  the  times 
on  this  problem  of  vast  and  fundamental  importance  to 
the  spread  of  religion  among  the  working  people  of 
America  and  Europe. 

His  mature  thought  on  the  subject  was  embodied  in 
the  encyclical  on  "The  Condition  of  Labor,"  ^  which  he 
addressed  to  the  Catholic  world  a  few  years  later.     In 

*  Letter  of  March  22,  1887,  quoted  by  Leslie,  pp.  362-363. 

*  Encyclical  Letter,  Rerum.Novarum,  May  15,  1891. 


VICTORY  FOR  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR  357 

words  whose  power  reinforced  from  the  highest  ecclesi- 
astical source  the  vigorous  utterances  of  Cardinal  Gib- 
bons, he  conceded  and  set  forth  the  wrongs  under  which 
labor  was  suffering.  "Some  remedy  must  be  found 
quickly,"  he  declared,  "for  the  misery  and  wretchedness 
present  so  heavily  and  unjustly  at  this  moment  on  the 
vast  majority  of  the  working  classes."  Since  the  decline 
of  the  ancient  workingmen's  guilds,  it  had  come  to  pass 
that  "workingmen  had  been  surrendered,  all  isolated  and 
helpless,  to  the  hard-heartedness  of  employers,  and  to 
great  unchecked  competition,"  so  that  "a  small  number 
of  very  rich  men  had  been  able  to  lay  upon  the  teeming 
masses  of  the  laboring  poor  a  yoke  little  better  than 
slavery  itself." 

Leo  warmly  defended  the  dignity  of  labor,  as  Gibbons 
had  done  before  him.  He  dwelt  upon  the  Christian  in- 
terdependence of  both  capital  and  labor,  and  argued  that 
no  perfect  solution  of  this  question  would  ever  be  found 
without  the  assistance  of  religion.  , 

Dealing  with  the  rise  of  Socialism,  which  was  then 
beginning  to  carry  local  elections  in  Europe,  and  threat- 
ened to  gain  control  of  several  governments  by  alliances 
with  wings  of  other  political  parties,  he  declared  that 
it  was  preying  upon  the  poor  man's  envy  of  the  rich,  and 
was  endeavoring  to  destroy  private  property.  The  work- 
ingmen, he  held,  would  be  among  the  first  to  suffer  if 
the  proposals  of  the  Socialists  were  carried  out,  for  they 
were  clearly  futile  for  all  practical  purposes.  More  than 
that,  he  found  them  emphatically  unjust,  because  they 
would  rob  the  lawful  possessor,  bring  the  State  into  a 


358  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

sphere  not  properly  its  own,  and  cause  complete  con- 
fusion in  the  community. 

The  desire  of  the  Church,  Leo  emphasized,  was  that 
the  poor  should  rise  above  poverty  and  wretchedness. 
She  was  not  so  occupied  with  the  spiritual  concerns  of 
her  children  as  to  neglect  their  material  interests.  Chris- 
tian morality  was  the  key  to  the  situation;  if  practised 
by  employer  and  employee,  it  would  always  find  expres- 
sion in  the  attitude  of  the  State  toward  social  questions. 
It  was  not  enough  to  say  that  the  State  must  maintain 
even-handed  justice  among  individuals;  special  consid- 
eration was  due  to  the  poor,  as  the  weaker  members  of 
every  community.  There  was  a  moral  obligation  resting 
upon  employers  to  pay  fair  wages,  and  the  employment 
of  children  in  factories  and  similar  injustices  must  be  re- 
sisted to  the  utmost. 

The  Pope  gave  his  fullest  assent  to  the  primary  view 
laid  down  by  Cardinal  Gibbons  in  his  defense  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor.  Both  employers  and  employees,  he 
held,  had  the  right  to  combine,  and  it  was  not  only  to 
be  tolerated  but  highly  important  that  workingmen 
should  multiply  their  associations.  He  declared  that  im- 
perative necessity  had  brought  about  lawful  combinations 
for  the  betterment  of  labor.  As  far  as  was  practical,  he 
desired  these  organizations  to  be  founded  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  religion. 

The  Pope  extended  throughout  the  Christian  world 
the  policy  which  Gibbons  was  following  in  America,  by 
instructing  the  Bishops  to  take  into  their  purview  the 
condition  of  labor  in  their  dioceses,  and,  without  inter- 
fering with  the  State,  to  aid  the  workingmen  in  every 


VICTORY  FOR  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR  359 

lawful  way  to  promote  their  own  just  interests  without 
recourse  to  violence  or  revolutionary  doctrines.* 

Gibbons  had  a  deep  personal  sympathy  for  the  eleva- 
tion of  labor  as  a  general  policy  in  both  Church  and 
State.  In  a  sermon  he  thus  expressed  the  view  on  that 
subject  which  he  continuously  held: 

"Never  did  the  Redeemer  of  mankind  confer  a  greater 
temporal  blessing  on  humanity  than  by  ennobling  and 
sanctifying  manual  labor,  and  by  rescuing  it  from  the 
degradation  which  had  been  attached  to  it.  Christ  comes 
into  the  world  not  surrounded  by  the  pomp  and  splendor 
of  imperial  majesty,  but  he  appears  as  the  son  of  an 
artisan.  'Is  not  this  the  carpenter,  the  son  of  Mary?' 
the  people  said  of  him.  He  has  thrown  a  halo  around 
the  workshop,  and  has  lightened  the  workman's  tools  by 
assuming  the  trade  of  an  artisan. 

"If  the  professions  of  a  soldier,  of  a  jurist,  and  of  a 
prelate  are  dignified  by  the  examples  of  a  Washington, 
a  Taney,  and  a  Carroll,  how  much  more  is  the  calling  of 
a  mechanic  ennobled  by  Christ?  A  conflict  of  labor  and 
capital  is  as  unreasonable  as  would  be  a  contention  be- 
tween the  head  and  the  hands."  ^ 

It  is  difficult  with  the  passage  of  years  to  conceive  the 
risk  which  Gibbons  and  Manning  took  in  basing  their 
stand  regarding  labor  upon  a  forecast  of  the  future, 
which,  accurate,  even  prophetic,  as  it  was,  involved  the 
human  hazard.  They  were  immensely  relieved  when  the 
rapid  progress  of  events  vindicated  their  judgment. 
Manning  wrote  to  Gibbons  March  31,  1890: 

"We  little  thought  when  we  were  writing  about  the 
Knights  of  Labour  in  Rome,  a  few  years  ago,  that  every 

®  Archives  of  the  Baltimore  Cathedral. 

'Sermon  in  the  Baltimore  Cathedral,  April,   1902, 


360  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

word  would  be  so  soon  published  to  the  world  by  an 
Emperor  and  a  Pope.  This  is  surely  the  new  world  over- 
shadowing the  old,  and  the  Church  walking  like  its  mas- 
ter among  the  people  of  Christendom.  Were  we 
prophets'?"  ^ 

,   Archbishop  Ireland,  valiant  champion  of  labor  to  the 
'^end  of  the  struggle,  learned  of  this  letter  and  wrote  to 
Gibbons : 

"The  words  are  cheering  and  to  you  who  staked  your 
name  on  the  outcome  of  the  problem,  then  rather  ob- 
scure, they  must  have  been  very  gratifying.  You  were 
a  prophet  I  The  people  are  the  power,  and  the  Church 
must  be  with  the  people.  I  wish  all  our  Bishops  under- 
stood this  truth  I"  ^ 

The  battle  in  behalf  of  the  Knights  left  no  scars  upon 
Gibbons  but  many  memories.    Years  afterward  he  said: 

"Ah,  what  a  struggle  it  was  on  both  sides  of  the  water  I 
I  had  so  many  difficulties  that  I  wonder  I  got  through 
with  them.  Bishops  are  so  hard  to  persuade !  They  have 
fixed  and  positive  opinions  and  I  can  scarcely  imagine 
a  class  of  men  less  easy  to  deal  with  on  a  subject  of  that 
kind. 

"And  here  I  am,  at  the  end  of  all  those  struggles,  in 
the  midst  of  a  profound  calm !  But  the  storm  lasted  a 
long  time.  I  was  called  an  advanced  progressive  and  I 
had  to  stand  my  ground.  Puck  used  to  caricature  me. 
I  remember  well  one  cartoon  in  which  Cardinal  Manning 
and  I  were  represented  as  seated  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
Holy  Father  (Leo  XIII).  The  Pope's  expression,  as 
drawn,  was  that  of  a  fox.  He  was  looking  suspiciously 
at  us  and  saying,  as  I  remember  it:  1  must  watch  these 
two  artful  dodgers  I'  " 

'Leslie,  pp.  365-366. 
•Leslie,  p.  366. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
HENRY  GEORGE  AND  DR.  McGLYNN 

While  yet  the  struggle  for  the  vindication  of  the 
rights  of  organized  labor  rocked  the  forces  of  opinion  in 
Rome,  Gibbons  had  turned  to  accept  combat  on  another 
issue  which  he  felt  involved  a  correlative  right — that  of 
free  discussion  of  economic  evils.  He  threw  himself  into 
this  new  effort  with  redoubled  zeal  when  the  cause  of 
the  Knights  had  been  won  and  the  Church  had  become 
firmly  intrenched  in  the  high  ground  that  had  been 
gained;  for  in  his  eyes  there  rose  a  danger  that  part  of 
the  fruits  of  the  victory  would  be  snatched  away. 

The  challenge  which  Gibbons  thus  saw  was  in  the 
proposed  condemnation  of  Henry  George's  book,  Prog- 
ress and  Poverty,  which  in  certain  circles  of  labor  had 
been  hailed  as  the  creed  of  a  new  order  that  would  lift 
burdens  centuries  old.  This  exposition  of  the  theory 
of  the  single  tax  on  land  values  was  launched  in  a  time 
of  economic  experiment  when  panaceas  were  eagerly 
sought,  and  it  projected  its  author  into  a  sudden  glare 
of  popularity.  He  became  the  hope  of  the  unemployed, 
the  underpaid  and  the  striker.  Among  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  workers  in  New  York  City  his  vogue  was, 
at  the  maximum,  and  in  1886  he  was  nominated  as  the 
labor  candidate  for  mayor,  receiving  68,000  votes. 

George  drew  no  small  share  of  support  outside  the 

361 


362  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ranks  of  labor  from  men  whose  altruism  he  stirred  power- 
fully and  two  of  the  most  prominent  priests  of  New  York 
became  his  avowed  and  eager  champions.  These  were 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  McGlynn,  pastor  of  St.  Stephen's 
Church,  the  "largest  Catholic  parish  in  this  diocese,"  as 
the  diocesan  head.  Archbishop  Corrigan,  wrote  in  1886; 
and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Richard  L.  Burtsell,  pastor  of  the 
Church  of  the  Epiphany.  The  talented  and  ardent  Mc- 
Glynn became  one  of  the  founders  and  the  president  of 
the  Anti-Poverty  Society,  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
championing  George's  views  in  a  skeptical  world.  His 
militancy  in  the  cause  gave  rise  to  the  belief  in  some 
minds  that  the  Catholic  Church  indorsed  the  new  eco- 
nomic program. 

In  the  ferment  of  conflicting  ideas,  an  appeal  was 
made  to  Archbishop  Corrigan  to  declare  his  position.  His 
response  was  an  unhesitating  condemnation  of  George's 
book  and  a  rebuke  to  McGlynn  and  Burtsell.  Supporters 
of  George,  in  their  consternation,  retorted  by  raising 
doubts  as  to  whether  Corrigan  spoke  for  Rome.  The 
Archbishop,  spurred  to  adopt  a  course  even  more  vigor- 
ous, carried  his  case  promptly  to  the  Congregation  of  the 
Index,  demanding  that  Progress  and  Poverty  be  put  upon 
the  forbidden  list. 

When  Gibbons  learned  of  this  step  he  took  the  ground, 
with  firmness  equal  to  that  of  his  colleague  of  New  York, 
that  condemnation  of  the  book  would  be  a  grave  mistake 
and  an  injury  to  the  prestige  of  the  Church  as  the  friend 
of  the  struggling  poor.  Strained  relations  with  Corrigan 
developed,  and  Gibbons  deplored  them ;  but  personal  con- 


HENRY  GEORGE  AND  DR.  McGLYNN   363 

siderations  could  not  move  him  from  his  stand  on  the 
question  of  the  principle  involved. 

Gibbons  and  Corrigan  were  of  different  types  and  stood 
as  the  champions  of  diverse  tendencies  of  opinion  in  the 
Church  in  America.  The  Baltimore  Cardinal  was  the 
acknowledged  leader  of  the  prelates  of  liberal  view  who 
were  in  an  overwhelming  majority,  while  Corrigan  spoke 
for  those  who  were  called  conservatives.  Corrigan  played 
his  role  unwillingly.  His  personal  tastes  were  for  scholar- 
ship and  retirement  from  the  world,  and  he  would  have 
been  glad  to  escape  his  weighty  task  as  the  head  of  the 
metropolitan  diocese.  Soon  after  his  elevation,  he  wrote: 
"How  immense  is  the  responsibility  and  how  heavy  is 
the  burden  I"  His  piety  and  humility  seemed  like  a  sur- 
vival from  Apostolic  times.  Combined  with  his  high 
degree  of  intellectual  ability  and  natural  force  of  char- 
acter were  a  deep  sensitiveness  which  ill-fitted  him  for 
the  storms  that  swept  his  diocese  during  the  period  of  his 
ecclesiastical  rule,  and  he  showed  a  rare  gentleness  in  the 
ordinary  relations  of  life. 

Standing  out  among  these  elements  in  his  personality 
was  an  almost  leonine  courage  which  impelled  him  to 
resist  to  the  last  extremity  anything  that  he  considered 
to  be  an  encroachment  upon  the  domain  of  true  teaching. 
To  his  mind  George's  book  was  a  denial  of  the  rights  of 
property  asserted  by  the  Church ;  to  Gibbons'  mind — and 
the  Cardinal  was  subsequently  sustained  by  the  highest 
ecclesiastical  authority — it  was  not.  Men  holding  such 
pronounced  convictions  upon  a  subject  of  that  kind  were 
bound  to  clash,  and  it  was  not  in  either  of  them  to  give 


364  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ground   until   the   final   word   had   been   spoken   with 
authority. 

Corrigan  felt  that  as  the  head  of  the  diocese  in  which 
George  lived,  and  in  which  Progress  and  Poverty  had 
attracted  the  greatest  number  of  followers,  his  own  view 
of  the  book  should  be  regarded  as  of  especial  weight, 
both  by  his  brethren  of  the  American  Hierarchy  and  by 
the  authorities  in  Rome.  Gibbons  insisted  that  the  con- 
siderations involved  were  far  too  broad  and  general  to 
be  decided  either  by  an  individual  prelate  or  from  the 
viewpoint  of  one  diocese.  In  the  spring  of  1887,  while 
in  Rome,  he  made  a  formal  appeal  against  condemnation 
in  a  letter  to  Cardinal  Simeoni.     He  wrote : 

"I  have  already  had  the  honor  of  presenting  my  views 
on  social  questions  which  agitate  America,  and  especially 
in  relation  to  the  Knights  of  Labor.  But  lately  another 
form  of  social  discussion  has  developed  attaching  to  the 
doctrines  of  Henry  George,  an  American  author  identi- 
fied with  the  working  classes.  Since  my  arrival  in  Rome 
I  have  heard  discussed  the  question  whether  those  works 
should  find  a  place  in  the  Index.  After  meditation  upon 
the  subject,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  submit  to  your  Emi- 
nence the  reasons  which  demonstrated  to  me  why  a  formal 
condemnation  of  Henry  George's  works  would  be  in- 
opportune and  useless." 

Gibbons  then  began  the  argument  by  setting  forth 
that  George  was  not  the  originator  of  his  theory  concern- 
ing the  ownership  and  control  of  land.  In  Progress  and 
Poverty^  he  maintained,  George  cited  the  precise  teach- 
ings of  Herbert  Spencer  and  John  Stuart  Mill.  He 
quoted  from  an  article  in  the  Contemporary  Review  of 
November,   1886,  the  statement  that  George  wa.s  only 


HENRY  GEORGE  AND  DR.  McGLYNN   365 

following  those  celebrated  authors.     The  Cardinal  pro- 
ceeded : 

"It  seems  to  me  that  the  world  would  adjudge  it  a 
little  singular  if  the  Holy  See  should  attack  the  work  of 
an  humble  American  workingman  instead  of  his  master. 
...  If  any  one  thinks  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Holy  See  to 
pronounce  judgment  upon  Messrs.  Spencer  and  Mill,  it 
might  be  prudent,  before  such  adjudication,  to  take  the 
opinions  of  Cardinals  Manning  and  Newman  as  to  the 
policy  of  such  action." 

He  differentiated  between  a  work  by  Steccannella, 
published  by  the  Propaganda  Press  in  1882,  and  George's 
writings,  continuing: 

"Any  one  who  reads  the  latter  observes  that  the  author 
does  not  teach  nor  wish  to  teach  the  abolition  of  all 
private  property  and  placing  it  under  State  care.  Mr. 
George,  on  the  contrary,  maintains  that  individual  prop- 
erty is  absolute  over  all  the  fruits  of  a  man's  energy  and 
industry.  It  is  only  as  to  the  possession  of  land  that  he 
wishes  to  limit  individual  property  by  an  extension  of  the 
supremum  dominium  of  government.  One  can  perceive, 
therefore,  that  practically  the  controversy  presents  itself 
to  the  American  public  as  a  simple  question  touching  the 
power  of  government  over  the  individual  ownership  of 
land. 

"Regarding  this  power,  I  wish  to  note  here  that  who- 
ever has  studied  the  relation  of  the  State  to  the  owner- 
ship of  land,  as  the  subject  is  treated  by  Steccannella  and 
other  Catholic  writers,  or  as  it  is  regulated  by  laws  on 
taxation  and  the  support  of  the  poor  in  many  countries 
— and  especially  in  England — cannot  fail  to  compre- 
hend that  this  is  a  very  complicated  question,  governed 
by  differing  circumstances  of  time  and  place  and  never 
fit  to  be  resolved  by  a  peremptory  sentence. 


366  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"The  whole  question  is  before  the  American  public  as 
a  political  problem  and  in  an  arena  so  practical  it  will 
soon  find  solution.  Mr.  George  himself  recognizes  that 
only  legislative  power  can  accomplish  his  disposition  of 
these  affairs.  It  seems  certain,  however,  that  never  will 
a  Congress  or  a  legislature  be  found  which  will  vote  so 
profound  a  change  in  social  relations,  nor  a  President 
who  will  approve  it  in  a  country  like  the  United  States, 
which  is  not  one  for  doctrinaires  and  visionaries.  No. 
speculative  theory  can  become  dangerous  or  survive  long 
after  any  practical  application  of  it  has  been  rejected. 
If  let  alone,  it  will  in  all  certainty  die  of  itself. 

"Some  events  having  an  intimate  connection  with  this 
very  question  have  created  a  very  profound  impression 
in  the  United  States.  It  appears  evident,  then,  that  even 
if  it  were  advisable  to  condemn  the  doctrines,  the  present 
time  could  not  properly  be  chosen  for  that  purpose.  I 
feel  certain,  moreover,  that  a  condemnation  of  the  works 
of  Mr.  George  might  give  them  a  popular  importance 
and  arouse  a  curiosity  that  would  sell  them  by  thousands 
of  copies  and  immensely  spread  the  influences  which  the 
condemnation  would  seek  to  restrain. 

"The  American  people,  I  repeat,  are  so  practical  that 
among  them  all  bizarre  ideas  and  visionary  suggestions 
so  soon  find  a  tomb  that  it  appears  to  me  that  prudence 
should  suggest  that  we  let  the  absurdities  die  a  natural 
death  and  that  we  should  not  incur  the  risk  of  giving  to 
these  a  vital  importance  and  an  artificial  force  by  the 
intervention  of  the  Church  tribunals. 

"J.  Card.  Gibbons, 
"Archbishop  of  Baltimore." 

Cardinal  Manning  was  a  member  of  the  Congregation 
of  the  Index,  and  Gibbons  wrote  to  him  protesting 
urgently  against  condemnation  of  George's  book.  George 
had  made  a  trip  to  England,  in  which  country  his  eco- 


HENRY  GEORGE  AND  DR.  McGLYNN   367 

nomic  theories  had  also  attained  some  vogue,  and  while 
there  he  attempted  to  enlist  Manning's  support.  In  a 
personal  interview,  he  explained  his  views  at  length. 
Manning  understood  George  not  to  deny  the  right  of 
property,  but  to  be  aiming  rather  at  a  mitigation  of  evils 
resulting  from  an  exaggerated  application  of  that  right. 
The  English  Cardinal  was  pleased  by  the  "quiet  earnest- 
ness" with  which  George  spoke,  and  the  "calmness  of 
his  whole  bearing" ;  but  he  did  not  accept,  either  in  that 
conversation  or  subsequently,  George's  program  as  a 
general  remedy  for  social  evils.^ 

Gibbons  did  not  believe,  any  more  than  Manning,  that 
George's  plan  was  a  practical  remedy,  and  he  dissented 
from  a  number  of  the  principles  laid  down  in  Progress 
and  Poverty^  although  he  did  not  deny  that  the  book 
contained  some  economic  truths,  and  that  it  represented 
honest  aspiration  for  the  betterment  of  the  working 
classes.  Taking  the  same  general  ground  as  in  the  con- 
troversy regarding  the  Knights  of  Labor,  he  held  thati 
condemnation  of  the  book  by  the  Church  would  be  an 
unwise  step,  as  interfering  where  interference  was  un- 
necessary. Working  actively  in  Rome  against  condemna- 
tion, he  was  able  at  length  to  satisfy  himself  that  the 
action  proposed  by  Archbishop  Corrigan  had  been  pre- 
vented for  the  time  being. 

Corrigan,  still  undismayed,  continued  his  pressure  for 
condemnation,  and  by  the  end  of  another  year  appeared 
to  have  made  such  substantial  progress  that  Gibbons  took 
up  the  fight  again.  Gibbons  decided  that  the  time  had 
come  to  marshal  the  sentiment  of  the  American  Hierarchy 

*  Leslie,  pp.  353-354- 


368  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

to  the  utmost  extent  in  his  power  against  the  threatened 
act,  in  order  to  convince  Rome  that  the  question  affected 
the  general  attitude  of  the  Church  in  regard  to  the  labor 
/  movement  in  the  United  States  and  that  it  ought  to  be 
settled  finally.  His  journal  shows  these  entries  written 
in  the  spring  of  1888: 

"March  20.  Wrote  to  Dr.  O'Connell  deprecating  the 
threatened  condemnation  of  Henry  George's  Progress 
and  Poverty  by  the  Congregation  of  the  Index.  I  also 
requested  the  Archbishop  of  Boston,  and  a  few  other 
prelates,  to  write  to  Rome  in  the  same  interest.  .  .  . 

"April  14.  Wrote  to  Archbishop  Feehan  and  Bishop 
Gilmour  in  reference  to  the  threatened  condemnation  of 
George's  Progress  and  Poverty;  and  also  on  the  16th 
to  Bishop  O'Coimor,  and  on  the  21st  to  Archbishop  Heiss 
and  Bishop  Kain.  They  have  written  to  Rome;  also 
Archbishop  Riordan. 

"May  3.  I  wrote  to  the  Holy  Father  enclosing  the 
\  letter  to  Dr.  O'Connell,  deprecating  the  threatened  con- 
^  demnation  of  Henry  George's  Progress  and  Poverty.'* 

In  a  letter  to  his  close  friend,  Archbishop  Gross,  of 
Oregon,  he  wrote : 

/  "Last  year  while  in  Rome,  having  learned  that  the 
^  Congregation  of  the  Index  contemplated  putting  Henry 
George's  Progress  and  Poverty  on  the  Index,  I  wrote  a 
letter  to  Cardinal  Simeoni  deprecating  such  a  condemna- 
tion as  calculated  to  do  much  more  harm  than  good. 
...  It  would  be  made  use  of  as  a  weapon  against  us  by 
the  enemies  of  the  Church,  who  would  charge  her  with 
being  afraid  of  free  discussion,  the  friend  of  the  rich,  the 
enemy  of  the  poor,  etc.  Surely  we  have  ample  difficul- 
ties forced  upon  us  without  courting  or  inviting  new  ones. 
"Thousands  of  books  against  faith  and  morals  are 


HENRY  GEORGE  AND  DR.  McGLYNN   369 

annually  published  in  the  country.  To  single  out  George 
for  condemnation  would  look  like  vindictiveness.  And 
while  land  robbers  are  stealing  thousands  of  acres  with 
impunity,  to  see  a  harmless  theorist  condemned  by  the 
Church  for  views  which  could  never  enter  into  the  domain 
of  actual  life  would  not  fail  to  excite  unfavorable  com- 
ment, especially  among  the  poor  and  simple  masses."  ^ 

While  the  controversy  was  at  this  stage,  Gibbons'  dif- 
ferences from  Archbishop  Corrigan  were  emphasized  by 
the  publication  without  the  Cardinal's  knowledge  of  the 
letter  opposing  condemnation  which  he  had  sent  to  the 
Propaganda  a  year  before;  but  the  disclosure  also  had 
the  effect  of  enlisting  the  approval  of  a  large  body  of 
American  public  opinion,  as  shown  by  the  following 
letter  from  Gibbons  to  Mgr.  O'Connell : 

"Baltimore,  March  19,  1888. 
"Dear  Dr.  O'Connell: 

"The  surreptitious  publication  of  the  letter  which  I 
had  the  honor  to  address  to  the  Propaganda  in  reference^ 
to  the  condemnation  of  Henry  George's  'Progress  and 
Poverty  has  produced  one  good  result.  It  has  enlisted 
the  warm  approval  of  the  American  press,  which  has 
commented  upon  it,  and  has  conclusively  shown  that  the 
condemnation  of  the  book  would  not  only  have  done  no 
good,  but  would  have  been  the  occasion  of  much  injury 
to  the  head  of  the  Church  in  this  country.  Time  has 
confirmed  the  impressions  I  formed  in  Rome  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  fulfilled  the  predictions  I  ventured  to  make. 
...  If  the  American  episcopate  were  consulted  on  this 
matter,  with  very  few  exceptions,  they  would  write  de- 
ploring the  condemnation. 

"Yours  in  Christ, 

"James  Cardinal  Gibbons." 

"Letter  to  Archbishop  Gross,  April  16,  ij 


370  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Gibbons  again  turned  to  Manning's  assistance  as  essen- 
tial in  thwarting  the  new  effort  to  obtain  condemnation. 
He  wrote  to  the  English  Cardinal  on  March  23,  1888: 

''Private  and  Confidential.^  While  I  was  in  Rome  in 
the  spring  of  '87,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  urge  the  Congre- 
gation of  the  Index  not  to  condemn  Henry  George's 
'Progress  and  Poverty'  I  addressed  the  letter  to  Cardi- 
nal Simeoni,  and  my  impression  is  that  I  .sent  your  Emi- 
nence a  copy  of  the  letter  at  the  time.  I  have  been  in-, 
formed  confidentially,  within  the  last  few  days,  that, 
yielding  to  pressure  from  a  certain  quarter  in  this  coun- 
try, the  Congregation  was  inclined  to  put  the  book  on 
the  Index  notwithstanding  my  earnest  deprecating  letter 
of  last  year,  whose  force  is  perhaps  weakened  for  want 
of  insistence. 

"The  reasons  I  presented  then  for  withholding  a  con- 
demnation are  stronger  today,  and  my  anticipations  have 
been  verified  regarding  the  effect  of  Mr.  George's  book 
on  the  public  mind.  I  would  deplore  an  official  con- 
demnation of  the  book  for  the  following  reasons,  among 
others:  (1)  The  book  is  now  almost  forgotten,  and  to 
put  it  on  the  Index  would  revive  it  in  the  popular  mind, 
would  arouse  a  morbid  interest  in  the  work,  and  would 
tend  to  increase  its  circulation.  (2)  The  author  himself 
has  ceased  to  be  a  prominent  leader  in  politics,  he  excites 
little  or  no  attention,  and  whatever  influence  he  has  po- 
litically he  promises  to  exert  in  favor  of  the  reelection 
of  President  Cleveland.  (3)  The  condemnation  of  this 
book  would  awaken  sympathy  for  him.  He  would  be 
regarded  as  a  martyr  to  Catholic  intolerance  by  many 
Protestants.  (4)  It  would  afford  to  the  bigots,  (always 
anxious  to  find  a  weak  spot  in  our  armor)  an  occasion  to 

'The  injunction  of  secrecy  regarding  Cardinal  Gibbons'  letter  to 
Cardinal  Manning,  considered  necessary  at  the  time,  was  removed  by 
the  subsequent  progress  of  events. 


HENRY  GEORGE  AND  DR.  McGLYNN   371 

denounce  the  Church  as  an  enemy  of  free  discussion. 
(5)  The  errors  in  the  book  have  been  amply  refuted  by 
able  theologians. 

"I  write  to  beg  your  Eminence  to  help  us  in  preventing 
a  condemnation,  especially  as  you  belong  to  the  Congre- 
gation of  the  Index.  It  is  important  not  to  reveal  any 
knowledge  of  the  threatened  condemnation.  The  letter 
might  be  based  on  the  recent  surreptitious  publication  of 
my  letter  in  the  New  York  Herald,  and  the  favourable 
comments  on  it,  as  far  as  I  have  seen,  on  the  part  of  the 
secular  press.  My  belief  is  that  with  very  few,  not  a 
half  dozen,  exceptions,  the  episcopate  of  this  country 
would  deplore  a  condemnation.  Your  Eminence's 
knightly  help  to  me  last  year  prompts  me  to  call  on  you 
agam.    ^ 

Manning  lost  no  time  in  giving  the  desired  assurance 
that  he  would  continue  to  stand  firmly  against  condemna- 
tion and  that  Gibbons  need  have  no  fears  on  that  subject. 
Gibbons'  second  rally  of  his  forces  carried  the  day  tri- 
umphantly and  all  thought  of  imposing  the  ban  was 
dropped  at  Rome. 

Corrigan's  feeling  that  his  own  judgment  regarding 
George's  book  had  not  received  the  proportionate  impor- 
tance that  was  due  him  as  the  head  of  the  archdiocese 
of  New  York  was  deepened  by  the  developments  in  the 
case  of  Dr.  McGlynn.  While  he  and  Gibbons  had 
differed  squarely  on  the  question  of  condemnation  of  the 
book,  each  clearly  understood  the  other's  position  on  that 
question;  but  in  the  public  commotion  over  McGlynn  a 
mass  of  misunderstanding  arose  and  Corrigan,  through 

■*  Leslie,  pp.  64-65. 


372  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

no  fault  of  his  own,  formed  a  total  misconception  of  Gib- 
bons' attitude.  This  condition  dragged  along  for  several 
years  before  the  facts  became  plain  to  the  Archbishop  of 
New  York.  By  that  time  his  whole  life  had  been  sad- 
dened by  the  storms  of  his  career  at  the  head  of  the 
diocese  during  a  turbulent  period,  and  he  implored  Rome 
to  permit  him  to  put  down  the  burden  which  he  felt  was 
too  heavy  for  him  to  bear. 

In  Henry  George's  mayoralty  campaign  in  New  York, 
McGlynn  was  his  most  influential  supporter.  Corrigan 
forbade  McGlynn  to  attend  a  public  meeting  in  behalf 
of  George,  but  he  refused  to  heed  the  command  and  was 
suspended  from  his  pastorate  for  ten  days.  As  he  con- 
tinued to  be  refractory  he  was  removed  from  the  pastorate 
and  ordered  to  proceed  to  Rome  to  make  his  submission, 
but  he  pleaded  ill-health  and  raised  other  complications, 
finally  incurring  the  sentence  of  excommunication.  Dr. 
Burtsell,  the  backer  and  counselor  of  McGlynn,  also  re- 
fused to  budge  from  his  position,  and  was  deprived  of 
his  pastorate. 

From  the  bottom  of  his  heart  Gibbons  deplored  the 
conduct  of  these  two  men.  In  his  view  they  were  indis- 
creet and  obstreperous,  and  their  resistance  to  their 
ecclesiastical  superior  tended  to  cloud  the  main  question 
at  issue  before  it  could  be  decided  by  the  highest  Church 
authority.  He  set  forth  his  stand  in  the  following  letter 
to  Archbishop  Elder : 

"Florence,  April  20,  1887. 
"My  dear  Archbishop: 

"Yesterday,  on  arriving  here,  I  received  a  copy  of  the 
cablegram  you  sent  to  Dr.  O'Connell.     I  wrote  to  Dr. 


HENRY  GEORGE  AND  DR.  McGLYNN   373 

O'Connell  requesting  him  to  say  to  Mgr.  Jacobini  that 
as  far  as  I  was  advised  it  might  be  well  to  make  another 
effort  to  get  McGl)TLn  to  Rome,  and  that  Archbishop 
Williams,  who  will  soon  arrive,  might  be  asked  to  use 
his  good  offices  in  this  matter.  Should  McGlynn  fail  to 
obey  this  summons,  it  would  be  for  the  Holy  See  to 
determine  whether  and  to  what  extent  he  should  be 
punished  for  contumacy,  and  even  whether  he  may  not 
be  already  regarded  as  contumacious. 

"Soon  after  arriving  in  Rome  on  February  i6,  at  the 
direction  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  Cardinal  Simeoni  also 
requesting,  I  wrote  a  letter  to  Dr.  Burtsell  strongly  ad- 
vising Dr.  McGlynn  to  come  to  Rome.  I  had  hoped 
that  he  would  obey  and  thus  save  himself  from  the  ter- 
rible consequences  involved  in  his  disobedience  and  the 
Archbishop  from  constant  annoyance  and  irritation. 
After  a  long  time,  an  answer  came  excusing  him  on  the 
ground  of  ill-health,  coupled  with  the  desire  to  have  his 
faculties  restored  before  departing. 

"To  my  regret  and  even  amazement,  I  saw  from  the 
papers  that  Dr.  McGlynn's  friends  began  to  regard  me 
as  a  defender  of  him,  and,  as  I  believed  that  my  letter 
could  be  the  only  ground  for  this  impression,  I  desisted 
from  writing  again.  I  never  wrote  a  second  letter  to 
New  York,  and  paid  no  attention  to  one  or  two  com- 
munications from  his  friends. 

"I  may  add  that  I  hardly  know  Dr.  McGlynn  by 
sight,  and  never  corresponded  with  him. 

"As  no  suggestions  came  to  me  from  the  Archbishop 
or  any  of  our  prelates,  I  was  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to 
do  and  hesitated  to  take  any  step  on  my  own  responsi- 
bility. These  public  utterances  of  Dr.  McGlynn  will 
do  no  good  either  to  himself  or  to  religion.  I  hope,  with 
God's  grace,  that  the  storm  will  soon  spend  itself.  .  .  . 

"Believe  me,  your  devoted  friend  in  Christ, 

"J.  Cardinal  Gibbons." 


374,  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

* 'April  21. 
"I  desire  to  add  a  word  or  two  to  what  I  said  yesterday. 
Should  the  Holy  See  deem  it  advisable  to  give  a  sum- 
mons to  Dr.  McGlynn  to  appear  in  Rome,  I  think  the 
summons  should  be  accompanied  by  a  command  to  him 
to  deliver  no  more  utterances.  These  speeches  of  his  are 
calculated  to  inflame  his  audiences,  who,  I  am  sorry  to 
see,  sometimes  use  language  disrespectful  to  the  Arch- 
bishop. Could  not  some  one  be  found  in  America  who 
would  advise  him  to  desist  from  making  public  speeches'? 
.  .  .  You  might  communicate  these  views  to  his  Grace 
of  New  York." 

Dr.  Burtsell  seems  to  have  come  to  the  belief  that  by 
continuous  appeals  he  would  be  able  to  win  some  sort 
of  support  from  Gibbons.  While  the  Cardinal  was  in 
New  York  in  May,  1890,  Burtsell  called  on  him  and 
implored  his  intercession.  The  Cardinal  told  him  firmly 
that  ''under  no  circumstances  will  I  interfere  in  the 
controversy." 

Burtsell  was  not  easily  rebuffed.  Several  days  later, 
after  Gibbons  had  returned  to  Baltimore,  he  received 
from  Burtsell  a  bundle  of  documents  with  a  note  en- 
closed, saying  that  Burtsell  had  written  to  Cardinal 
Simeoni  soliciting  him  to  ask  Cardinal  Gibbons'  views  on 
the  pending  question  before  deciding  it.  Without  even 
unfolding  the  documents,  Cardinal  Gibbons  returned 
them  to  the  priest  with  this  letter : 

"June  10,  1890. 
*'My  dear  Dr.  Burtsell: 

"I  hope  you  will  appreciate  my  motives  when  I  beg 
to  say,  as  I  said  to  you  in  New  York  when  you  called 
on  me,  that  I  feel  it  my  duty  not  to  interfere  in  any 


HENRY  GEORGE  AND  DR.  McGLYNN   3T5 

way  with  your  case.  I  send  you  back  at  once  the  docu- 
ments which  you  forwarded  to  me,  and  which  have  just 
arrived. 

"Faithfully  yours  in  Christ, 

"James  Cardinal  Gibbons." 

Archbishop  Corrigan  learned  of  Burtsell's  letter  to 
Rome  in  which  Gibbons'  name  had  been  used  without 
learning  also  of  the  Cardinal's  refusal  to  interfere.  He 
accepted  the  belief  that  Gibbons  was,  to  some  extent,  at 
least,  an  upholder  of  McGlynn.  Gibbons,  pained  by  the 
turn  which  affairs  were  taking,  wrote  him  a  letter  of  ex- 
planation, saying:  "This  partial  information  was  in- 
deed well  calculated  to  make  you  feel  aggrieved."  ^ 

A  short  time  afterward  he  addressed  the  Archbishop 
again  in  a  personal  vein,  endeavoring  to  remove  the 
thought  of  friction.    He  wrote: 

"Baltimore,  November  14,  1890. 
"My  dear  Archbishop: 

".  .  .  It  is  a  sore  affliction  to  me  that  an  unwarranted 
Use  of  my  name  continues  to  be  made  in  connection  with 
the  trials  through  which  you  have  passed  and  which  I 
hope  are  at  an  end.  Only  a  few  days  ago,  I  received  the 
enclosed  prospectus  of  a  book  from  the  publishers.  The 
same  day  I  called  on  a  prominent  law  firm  directing  them 
to  order  the  publishers  to  withdraw  my  name  from  the 
book.  ...  Of  course  the  book  is  a  catchpenny. 

"I  will  try,  if  possible,  to  avoid  a  legal  prosecution, 
which  might  advertise  the  book. 

"Faithfully  yours  in  Christ, 

"J.  Cardinal  Gibbons." 

'Letter  to  Archl^ishop  Corrigan,   October  30,   1890. 


376  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

But  with  regard  to  the  question  of  condemning  Prog- 
ress and  Poverty,  he  wrote  to  Corrigan  frankly  declar- 
ing his  own  right  to  take  any  position  that  seemed  to 
him  to  be  in  the  interest  of  religion,  saying : 

"I  regard  the  subject  as  neither  local  nor  personal, 
but  one  affecting  the  general  interests  of  the  Church  in 
this  country.  While  having  no  sympathy  for  George 
or  his  doctrines,  I  deprecate  a  public  condemnation  as 
calculated,  in  my  judgment,  to  do  harm  to  religion.  .  .  . 

"I  sincerely  regret  that  my  action  in  this  matter  did 
not  accord  with  your  judgment,  but  I  assure  you  that 
it  was  prompted  solely  by  a  conscientious  sense  of 
duty.  .  .  ." 

Corrigan's  sensitive  nature  received  a  further  shock 
when  Archbishop  Satolli,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  the 
United  States  as  Apostolic  Delegate,  held  a  hearing  on 
the  McGlynn  case.  Satolli  in  1892  relieved  the  priest 
of  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  and  McGlynn 
obeyed  the  summons  to  Rome.  Two  years  later  he  was 
appointed  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Newburgh,  New 
York,  and  remained  there  until  his  death  in  1901.  The 
faculties  of  Burtsell  were  also  restored,  and  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  a  pastorate  in  Rondout,  New  York.  He  was 
honored  with  the  title  of  monsignor  less  than  a  month 
before  he  died  in  1912. 

Satolli's  intervention  caused  a  personal  breach  between 
himself  and  Corrigan  which  greatly  distressed  Leo  XIII 
when  he  heard  of  it.  He  entrusted  to  Gibbons  a  most 
delicate  task  in  view  of  Gibbons'  previous  relations  with 
Corrigan  in  the  same  controversy — that  of  effecting  a 
reconciliation  between  the  Apostolic  Delegate  and  the 


HENRY  GEORGE  AND  DR.  McGLYNN   377 

Archbishop  of  New  York.  The  almost  unequaled  tact 
of  Gibbons  proved  to  be  sufficient,  and  his  journal 
records  that  he  was  able  to  write  to  the  Pope  that  the 
desired  reconciliation  had  been  effected.  \ 

The  differences  between  Gibbons  and  Corrigan  were 
differences  of  method.  Corrigan  felt  that  the  rising  labor 
movement  must  be  closely  watched  and  carefully  guided 
by  the  Church;  so  did  Gibbons.  But  Corrigan  was  dis- 
posed to  resort  to  interdicts  as  corrective  measures,  while 
Gibbons'  program  was  to  exercise  a  broad  toleration  dur- 
ing the  period  of  struggle  and  debate  which  was  in- 
separable from  the  evolutionary  process  that  was  going 
on.  Gibbons  believed  that  many  temporary  wanderings 
in  the  wilderness  by  labor  theorists  would  prove  harmless 
in  the  end,  and  that  enlightened  public  opinion  was  the 
best  corrective  for  them.  He  wished  the  Church  to  in-  / 
terpose  with  rebuke  only  if  urgent  necessity  should  make 
that  duty  plain. 

Even  outside  the  labor  movement  he  did  not  cease  to 
urge  that  the  Church  should  be  slow  to  condemn  organi- 
zations in  the  United  States.  He  wrote  to  Archbishop 
Elder: 

"Baltimore,  March  28,  1889. 
"Most  Rev.  Dear  Archbishop: 

"In  reply  to  your  question,  should  the  Odd  Fellows 
and  Knights  of  Pythias  be  tolerated  by  the  Church  in  this 
country,  I  beg  to  make  the  following  observations: 

"I  think  we  should  be  very  slow  in  condemning  socie- 
ties, especially  in  our  age  and  country  where  the  tendency 
is  so  strong  toward  organization,  and  the  intentions  of 
the  members  are  harmless  and  even  praiseworthy.  Exper- 
ience, I  believe,  has  shown  that  little  good  and  often  evil 


378  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

consequences  result  from  the  censures  of  the  Church.  We 
lose  a  hold  on  the  masses;  they  regard  us  as  unsym- 
pathetic and  hostile,  and  they  shrink  from  us.  The  so- 
cieties have  again  and  again  been  condemned  in  Italy, 
and  yet  that  country  is  honeycombed  with  secret  societies. 

"It  is  better  for  us  to  win  their  confidence  and  then 
we  can  succeed  in  eliminating  what  is  bad  or  suspicious 
from  their  constitutions. 

"As  a  practical  conclusion,  I  am  in  favor  of  tolerating 
ad  interim  the  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Knights  of  Pythias, 
with  the  proviso  that  the  members  express  themselves 
ready  to  abide  by  any  future  action  of  the  Church.  Mean- 
while a  commission  of  prelates  might  be  appointed  to 
examine  the  question  of  the  constitution  of  these  socie- 

LX^O*      •      •      • 

"Faithfully  yours  in  Christ, 

"James  Cardinal  Gibbons." 

His  journal  contains  this  entry  indicating  the  same 
attitude  at  a  later  period: 

"May  18,  1905.  I  sent  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  the  Archbishops  deprecating  the 
condemnation  of  three  societies,  respectively  called  'The 
Knights  of  the  Maccabees,'  'The  Modem  Woodmen'  and 
The  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men.'  " 


CHAPTER  XXII 
A  TRIUMPHAL  RETURN  HOME 

Cardinal  Gibbons'  winter  campaign  in  1887  in  Rome 
ended  in  brilliant  success  and  a  breakdown  of  his  health. 
He  had  laid  the  foundations  of  his  main  plans  so  firmly 
that  they  would  not  be  shaken.  In  the  outcome  he  felt 
no  sense  of  elation;  neither  had  he  been  greatly  de- 
pressed or  disconcerted  by  the  many  setbacks  which  he 
had  received  in  the  long  and  almost  fierce  struggle.  Early 
in  life  he  had  developed  the  practise  of  accepting  success 
and  failure  with  a  degree  of  equanimity  impossible  to 
most  men.  Sustained  by  a  comprehensive  faith  in  an 
overruling  Providence,  he  was  content  not  to  test  any  im- 
mediate result  by  a  limited  standard  of  judgment;  he  be- 
lieved that  in  the  larger  and  longer  view  everything 
would  turn  out  to  be  for  the  best.  Neither  did  he  accept 
partial  effects  as  finalities. 

This  may  be  called  his  personal  philosophy.  In  a 
sermon  at  the  Baltimore  Cathedral,  he  said : 

"I  do  not  know  of  any  truth  of  revelation  more  tran- 
quillizing and  more  consoling  to  the  human  heart  than 
the  doctrine  of  God's  special  providence  over  us.  If  I 
may  disclose  my  own  inward  thought,  I  will  avow  that 
it  has  ever  been  to  me  the  most  reassuring  of  all  Christian 
teachings,  and  one  that  has  been  a  sustaining  force  to 
me  amid  the  vicissitudes  of  a  long  life.    How  comforting 

379 


380  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

is  the  reflection  that  you  are  not  a  waif,  aimlessly  drift- 
ing down  the  stream  of  life,  but  that  your  little  bark  is 
unceasingly  under  the  guidance  of  the  Divine  pilot ;  that 
amid  the  storms  and  tempests  which  are  around  you 
there  is  a  voice  nearby  that  commands  the  winds  and 
the  waves;  that,  though  the  assassin's  dagger  is  raised  to 
strike,  there  is  close  to  you  an  invisible  hand  that  arrests 
the  dagger.  How  cheering  is  the  consideration  that  no 
matter  how  dark  and  lowering  the  clouds  of  sorrow  that 
envelop  you,  the  eternal  Sun  of  Justice  in  his  own  good 
time,  and  in  a  moment  most  suitable  to  your  needs,  will 
dispel  those  clouds  I" 

Gibbons  was  never  disposed  to  pause  in  a  moment  when 
much  seemed  gained,  and  be  satisfied  with  what  had  been 
accomplished.  Sustained  by  courage  and  hope,  he  was 
always  conceiving  new  undertakings. 

Such  a  man,  in  the  long  train  of  events,  is  an  irre- 
sistible champion  of  a  cause,  judged  by  human  standards; 
in  the  reverse  view,  he  is  an  irresistible  antagonist.  Gib- 
bons, while  audacious  when  the  moment  for  audacity 
came,  possessed  the  rare  gift  of  being  able  to  wait.  His 
aims  and  judgments  were  based  on  long  processes  of, 
years.  His  wish  was  to  do  nothing  that  would  not  stand 
the  test  of  time. 

But  his  physique,  which  had  so  often  verged  on  frailty, 
gave  way  in  the  Spring  of  1887.  The  care  of  his  health 
which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  take  had  been  discarded 
in  part  in  Rome  when  events  seemed  to  close  up  his  path- 
way. A  man  of  the  most  robust  frame  could  scarcely 
have  gone  through  what  he  endured  without  collapsing. 

Fortunately,  if  his  body  seemed  weak,  his  mind  was  a 
stranger  to  fatigue;  and  his  nerves  were  cool  and  steady 


A  TRIUMPHAL  RETURN  HOME  381 

as  steel.  In  a  combat  in  the  council  chamber  to  convince 
men  whose  temperaments  and  currents  of  thought  were 
the  antitheses  of  his  own,  his  mind  rebounded  as  if  under 
the  effect  of  a  powerful  stimulus  and  his  poise  was  per- 
fect. The  only  fatigue  which  he  felt  was  the  effect  of 
prolonged  standing,  or  of  direct  physical  exertion  in  some 
other  form,  or  of  lack  of  nutrition  from  the  old  stomach 
trouble  from  which  he  was  never  free. 

Now  the  time  came  when  the  body  would  not  respond 
to  the  driving  force  of  his  mind.  He  must  rest  and  relax. 
But  he  was  fortunately  able  to  do  this  at  all  times  with- 
out any  interruption  in  the  rapid  functioning  of  his 
brain,  which  he  seemed  powerless  and  even  markedly 
disinclined  to  slow  up.  He  wrote  to  Archbishop  Elder 
when  the  struggle  in  the  Eternal  City  was  ended: 

"My  health  is  impaired  by  my  confinement  and  con- 
stant employment,  and  the  nervous  tension  in  Rome.  I 
felt  the  responsibility  of  my  position  and  worked  hard. 


'»  1 


A  leisurely  and  reposeful  trip  homeward  was  his  solu- 
tion of  his  own  problem  of  physical  recuperation.  Pro- 
ceeding by  easy  stages  to  Paris,  he  was  the  guest  there 
of  the  Sulpicians,  who  had  founded  in  Baltimore  the  first 
seminary  for  the  training  of  American  priests  and  thus 
laid  the  foundation  for  a  thoroughly  American  priest- 
hood. In  the  calm  and  secluded  life  of  the  fathers  of 
that  order,  his  exceptional  recuperative  power  asserted 
itself.  Another  stop  was  made  at  the  University  of 
Louvain,  where  many  of  his  brethren  in  the  American 
Hierarchy  had  pursued  their  studies  owing  to  the  lack 

*I.etter  to  Archbishop  Elder,  April  20,  1887. 


382  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of  a  university  in  their  own  country,  which  was  now 
to  be  established  for  them  by  a  decree  of  the  Third 
Plenary  Council. 

In  May  he  was  the  guest  in  London  of  Cardinal  Man- 
ning, whose  general  views  of  the  larger  external  aims 
to  be  pursued  by  the  Church  were  more  in  accord  with 
his  own  than  those  of  any  other  member  of  her  inner 
Council  except  Leo  himself.  Chatting  in  Manning's 
study,  the  workshop  of  a  marvelous  mi.nd,  he  found  the 
floor  piled  high  with  books  and  strewn  with  papers  in 
seeming  disorder.  While  these  two  eminent  champions 
of  human  rights  could  always  agree,  yet  in  their  personal, 
traits  they  were  opposites  in  many  respects,  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  they  could  ever  have  been  intimate  compan- 
ions. The  English  Cardinal  often  spoke,  even  in  ordinary 
conversation,  with  a  precision  of  logic  that  was  almost  re- 
sistless, and  his  conclusions,  as  Gibbons  afterward  re- 
marked, seemed  to  strike  with  the  force  of  a  battle-ax. 
For  this  compressed  and  formal  habit  of  thought,  the 
easy  graces  and  ready  versatility  of  Gibbons,  together 
with  that  appealing  personal  touch  which  he  imparted 
to  all  of  his  relations  with  others,  were  an  admirable 
foil. 

Manning,  who  had  already  congratulated  him  in  writ- 
ing on  the  victory  on  the  Knights  of  Labor  question, 
echoed  the  sympathy  expressed  in  the  letter.  They  found 
common  ground  in  the  belief  that  the  time  h^d  come 
when  the  dynasty  of  the  masses  and  not  of  the  classes 
was  ruling  and  ought  to  rule;  that  public  opinion  was 
the  dominating  force  of  the  enlightened  world,  and  that 
in  the  atmosphere  of  political  and  industrial  freedom  the 


A  TRIUMPHAL  RETURN  HOME  383 

great  results  of  the  future  were  to  be  worked  out.  They 
talked  of  the  dignity  and  rights  of  labor;  agreed  that 
social  betterment  must  come  from  the  bottom,  rather 
than  from  the  top ;  and  that  the  Church  must  be  in  touch 
with  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  always  choose  the  role  of 
the  friend  of  the  helpless,  the  champion  of  the  poor. 
The  struggles  through  which  these  two  men  passed  drew 
them  together  by  a  mighty  bond,  and  each  was  an  in- 
spiration to  the  other. 

Manning  entertained  Gibbons  at  dinner  with  a  com- 
pany which  included  Canon  Benoit,  rector  of  the  Mill 
Hill  College,  near  London,  where  the  Josephite  Fathers 
trained  students  for  missionary  work  among  the  negroes. 
Their  methods  appealed  greatly  to  the  American  Cardi- 
nal, who,  becoming  absorbed  in  the  possibilities  of  ex- 
tending those  methods  to  his  own  country,  spent  part 
of  two  days  at  Mill  Hill,  He  observed  the  work  of  the 
college  carefully,  and  made  an  address  to  the  students, 
expressing  great  gratification  at  what  was  being  done 
there. 

Gibbons,  as  a  result  of  his  years  of  work  in  the  South- 
em  states,  had  better  opportunities  for  understanding 
the  colored  race  in  America  than  the  Josephite  Fathers; 
but  his  main  idea  of  what  ought  to  be  done  for  that  race 
was  the  same.  While  always  regretting  that  the  slavery 
question,  or  any  other  question,  should  be  worked  out 
by  an  appeal  to  arms,  he  felt  and  frequently  expressed 
a  deep  and  benevolent  sympathy  for  the  negro  in  the 
position  of  contiguity  with  the  whites.  Like  almost  all 
Americans,  he  was  glad  to  see  slavery  abolished  perma- 
nently ;  but  he  had  been  alarmed  by  the  thrusting  of  the 


384  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ballot  into  the  hands  of  millions  of  negroes  untrained 
to  comprehend  its  meaning.  He  was  far  from  being 
ready  to  adopt  political  panaceas  for  the  ills  that  afflicted 
them,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  best  practical  step 
was  to  diffuse  among  them  the  gentle  and  uplifting  in- 
fluence of  Christianity,  training  the  character  as  a  ground- 
work, and  building  upon  this  as  much  of  the  superstruc- 
ture of  education  as  it  might  be  found  possible  to  add 
with  benefit.  The  whole  problem  appeared  to  him,  in 
its  aspects  at  that  time,  to  be  social  rather  than  political. 
The  first  duty  at  hand,  he  believed,  was  the  training  of 
the  negro  to  habits  of  industry  and  thrift,  to  understand 
the  relations  of  family  and  of  duty  as  a  member  of  the 
community,  however  humble. 

At  no  time  had  he  shared  the  expectations  of  those 
who  had  believed  the  negro  capable  of  developing  in  a 
few  years  what  the  white  race  had  obtained  by  centuries 
of  sacrifice,  toil  and  evolution;  but,  since  the  negroes 
were  here,  and  since  as  far  as  men  of  his  generation  could 
foresee,  they  would  remain  in  the  United  States  indefi- 
nitely, they  must  be  considered  as  a  people  to  whom  the 
ministrations  of  religion  were  even  more  necessary  than 
to  the  whites.  He  did  not  know  how  far  it  would  be 
wise  to  extend  the  plan  of  training  negro  priests  to  work 
among  their  own  kind;  but  he  felt  that  the  especial  char- 
acter of  the  negroes'  needs  required  a  priesthood  particu- 
larly prepared  for  supplying  them. 

The  fathers  of  Mill  Hill  welcomed  with  joy  the  sup- 
port of  their  often  discouraging  work  by  so  powerful  a 
prelate  as  the  only  American  Cardinal.  He  completed 
plans  with  them  for  its  extension  to  America,  and  soon 


A  TRIUMPHAL  RETURN  HOME  385 

after  his  return  these  bore  fruit  in  the  opening  of 
Epiphany  Apostolic  College  in  Baltimore.  That  institu- 
tion of  the  Josephites,  founded  as  an  offshoot  of  Mill 
Hill,  has  since  been  the  nucleus  of  an  important  influ- 
ence. 

Gibbons,  now  thoroughly  restored  to  as  much  physical 
vigor  as  he  had  possessed  before  his  conflicts  in  Rome, 
returned  to  America  early  in  June.  A  committee  from 
Baltimore  which  wished  to  extend  felicitations  to  him 
without  the  loss  of  a  moment  gave  him  a  warm  welcome 
at  the  steamship  pier.  He  tarried  a  few  days  in  New 
York,  where  he  celebrated  Pontifical  Mass  in  St.  Pat- 
rick's Cathedral,  and  was  greeted  by  a  host  of  visitors; 
arvd  then  proceeded  on  June  7  to  Baltimore,  where  com- 
mittees were  in  a  fever  of  final  preparation  for  a  public 
reception  to  the  prelate  whom  they  now  considered,  with- 
out distinction  of  creed,  as  their  foremost  civic  ornament. 

When  his  train  arrived  at  the  station  in  Baltimore, 
the  streets  were  thronged  as  if  to  acclaim  a  popular  hero, 
and  such  in  truth  he  was.  The  mayor  of  the  city,  James 
Hodges,  headed  a  delegation  which  extended  the  munici- 
pal welcome.  In  an  address  to  the  new  Cardinal,  he 
said : 

"Your  gradual  rise  from  the  ranks  of  the  people  to 
scholarship,  usefulness  and  popularity,  and  then  to  emi- 
nence, and  now  to  preeminence,  although  achieved  within 
the  ecclesiastical  division  of  life,  is  so  thoroughly  an 
American  experience  that  every  self-made  man  and  others 
who  admire  meritorious  advancement  must  regard  your 
promotion  as  well  earned  and  well  deserved.  Those  of 
your  fellow  townsmen  whose  religious  faith  is  in  har- 


386  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

mony  with  your  own,  and  who  are  justly  proud  of  the 
successful  administration  of  this  ancient  See  for  nearly 
one  hundred  years,  are  doubtless  gratified  to  know  that 
you  are  so  worthy  a  successor  of  the  eight  illustrious 
Primates,  from  Carroll  to  Bayley,  who  preceded  you  as 
Archbishops  of  Baltimore.  They  are  also  gratified  to 
know  that  you  are  qualified  by  learning,  good  works  and 
religious  zeal  to  be  a  member  of  the  Sacred  College  of 
Rome. 

"Few  American  citizens  during  their  visits  to  Europe 
have  been  welcomed  with  more  sincere  cordiality,  on 
made  more  agreeable  impressions  on  the  people  they 
met  than  you  have;  and  as  this  effect  was  produced  by 
the  exercise  of  a  rare  congenial  intelligence,  Christian 
piety,  moral  worth  and  gentleness  of  manner  and  speech, 
it  is  reasonable  to  surmise  that  it  will  be  lasting." 

An  address  in  behalf  of  a  delegation  of  the  Catholic 
laity  was  made  by  Charles  J.  Bonaparte,  a  grand  nephew 
of  Napoleon  I  and  a  resident  of  Baltimore. 

As  the  Cardinal  gazed  out  upon  the  throng  of  his  neigh- 
bors assembled  to  hear  a  response  from  him  to  the  wel- 
come which  they  had  joined  in  extending  with  so  much 
fervency,  the  depth  and  strength  of  his  personal  ties, 
always  marked,  were  evident  in  the  spirit  of  the  gather- 
ing. Scores  of  men  were  present  with  whom  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  exchange  friendly  hand  clasps  in  the  multi- 
tude of  relations  of  life  at  home  in  which  he  customarily 
engaged.  There  was  more  on  the  part  of  his  neighbors 
than  a  desire  to  extend  a  public  compliment  to  one  of 
their  fellow  citizens  who  had  risen  to  high  place;  thci 
predominant  feeling  was  one  of  real  affection,  perhaps  in 


A  TRIUMPHAL  RETURN  HOME  387 

a  greater  sense  personal  affection  than  in  the  case  of  any 
other  American  who  filled  a  role  such  as  his. 

In  his  response  he  struck  the  neighborly  note  at  the 
outset,  expressing  his  gratitude  for  "this  splendid  ovation 
'and  this  great  outpouring  of  the  clergy  and  people  of 
Baltimore,  who  have  come  to  bid  me  welcome  on  my 
return  to  the  city  which  I  love  so  well."  On  several 
previous  occasions  upon  returning  from  Rome,  he  re- 
minded his  hearers,  he  had  declined  to  be  the  subject  of 
public  demonstrations;  but  he  added: 

"There  are  times  and  circumstances — and  the  present 
one  is  one  of  them — when  the  individual  is  sunk  in  his 
representative  capacity  and  personal  preference  should 
yield  to  the  wishes  of  others.  I  thank  you  most  cordially, 
Mr.  Bonaparte,  for  the  beautiful  and  chaste  address  you 
have  delivered  in  the  name  of  the  Catholics  of  Balti- 
more, and  I  have  to  thank  you  also,  honorable  Mayor, 
for  your  excellent  remarks,  which  I  appreciate  more  as 
you  stand  before  me  as  the  highest  representative  of  the 
city,  and  speak  for  the  entire  community,  without  refer- 
ence to  religion  or  nationality.  I  beg  to  assure  you  both, 
and  the  citizens  of  Baltimore,  that  the  beautiful  senti- 
ments of  kindness  and  fraternity  you  have  so  well  ex- 
pressed are  most  heartily  reciprocated  on  my  part.  .  .  . 
Your  kindness  will  bind  me  still  more  closely,  if  that 
is  possible,  to  my  fellow  citizens  and  this  city  where  I 
was  born,  where  Providence  has  cast  my  lot,  and  where 
I  hope  to  die." 

Now  came  a  long  procession  of  the  kind  characteristic 
of  America,  where  public  parades  are  more  common  than 
anywhere  else  in  the  world.  It  took  the  form  of  a  popu- 
lar escort  to  the  Cardinal,  who  proceeded  to  the  archiepis- 


388  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

copal  residence  surrounded  by  a  guard  of  honor  composed 
of  members  of  Catholic  societies.  As  he  passed  through 
the  streets,  bowing  and  smiling,  the  overflowing  crowds 
raised  their  hats  in  respectful  salute. 

Arriving  home,  the  parade  was  dismissed  and  the 
Cardinal  entered  the  Cathedral,  where  the  clergy  had 
prepared  a  greeting  to  testify  their  especial  love  for  him 
who  was  indeed  their  pastor  in  a  personal  as  well  as  an 
ecclesiastical  sense.  After  prayer,  Monsignor  McColgan 
made  an  address  in  behalf  of  the  priests  of  the  diocese, 
which  showed  that  they  were  inspired  by  their  superior's 
view  of  their  proper  service  to  their  country  as  well  as 
to  the  cause  of  religion.    The  speaker  said: 

"You  have  exposed  to  the  view  of  the  European 
nations  the  blessings  which  civil  and  religious  liberty 
bestow  on  the  citizens  of  America,  where  the  rights  of 
all  are  guaranteed,  and  where  political  and  social  honors 
are  open  to  all,  where  freedom  reigns  for  all  without 
license,  and  authority  is  recognized  and  maintained  with- 
out despotism.  Your  patriotic  love  for  your  native  coun- 
try has  obtained  for  you  a  national  character.  Your 
memory,  like  that  of  the  illustrious  Carroll,  first  Arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore,  will  be  treasured  and  enshrined. in 
the  hearts  of  your  people." 

The  Cardinal  reciprocated  the  warmth  of  these  ex- 
pressions by  replying  in  an  address  in  which  he  said : 

"While  fully  appreciating  the  courtesies  which  have 
been  paid  me  in  foreign  lands,  I  value,  immeasurably 
more  than  all,  the  words  of  greeting  which  have  fallen 
from  your  lips.  For  what  would  a  father  care  for  all  the 
honors  that  might  be  lavished  upon  him  abroad,  were 


A  TRIUMPHAL  RETURN  HOME  389 

he  not  revered  and  loved  by  his  own  children  and  in  his 
own  household*?" 

On  the  Sunday  following,  at  the  services  in  the; 
Cathedral,  the  Cardinal  spoke  in  detail  of  his  European 
trip.^  Fresh  from  contact  with  Leo  XIII,  he  naturally 
thought  first  of  that  Pontiff  who  had  inspired  and  up- 
held him  in  the  supreme  trials  through  which  he  had 
passed.  He  felt  that  he  must  tell  of  Leo's  especial  inter- 
est in  the  western  democracy,  once  expressed  in  the  words 
"America — that  is  the  future."    The  Cardinal  said : 

"Though  he  [the  Pope]  is  deprived  of  his  temporal 
possessions,  it  can  be  safely  said  that  today  he  exercises 
more  power  over  the  civilized  world  than  any  king  or 
potentate;  and,  although  he  has  no  military  force  to  back 
him,  his  words  are  more  conducive  to  peace  than  the  ac- 
tions of  all  the  standing  armies  of  Europe.  In  his  case 
it  can  be  truly  said  that  his  voice  is  mightier  than  the 
sword. 

"He  enjoys  the  love  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
of  Catholics,  scattered  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  world;  and  he  has  the  respect  and  esteem  of  our 
separated  brethren,  who  have  not  failed  to  recognize  his 
many  personal  virtues,  his  benevolent  character,  and  his 
broad,  statesmanlike  views.  He  has  a  special  regard  for 
this  republic  of  ours  and  the  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
which  was  amply  demonstrated  during  my  sojourn  in 
Rome.  At  the  time  there  was  a  large  number  of  Ameri- 
cans in  the  city,  all  of  whom  very  naturally  wished  to  see 
the  Holy  Father.  I  mentioned  the  fact  to  him  at  the  first 
opportunity,  and  in  reply  he  said  he  would,  indeed,  be 
much  pleased  to  see  them.  When  the  visitors  were  after- 
ward presented,  they  were  charmed  by  his  presence  and 

'Catholic  Mirror,  June  i8,  1887. 


390  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

went  away  favorably  impressed  with  all  that  he  had  said 
and  strengthened  with  God's  benediction  upon  them. 

"Another  illustration  of  his  love  for  Americans  was 
shown  on  Easter  Tuesday,  when  all  the  Cardinals  then 
in  Rome  paid  their  respects  to  his  Holiness.  He  took 
that  occasion  to  speak  again  of  his  great  love  for  this 
country." 

Seeing  not  the  slightest  conflict  between  allegiance  to 
Church  and  allegiance  to  country,  the  Cardinal  alluded 
to  a  sight  which  he  had  recently  witnessed  in  the  parade 
held  in  his  honor — the  flags  of  the  United  States  and  of 
the  Papacy  carried  by  marching  Americans:  "I  always 
wish  to  see  those  two  flags  lovingly  entwined,"  he  said, 
"for  no  one  can  be  faithful  to  God  without  being  faithful 
to  his  country.  Render  to  Caesar  the  things  that  are 
Caesar's  and  to  God  the  things  that  are  God's." 

Such  a  discourse  must  necessarily  include  some  refer- 
ence to  the  struggle  for  the  rights  of  labor  which  had 
caused  so  large  a  part  of  his  solicitude  and  efforts  in 
Rome.  Without  hesitation  he  expressed  his  clear  faith 
that  the  American  people  would  be  equal  to  the  responsi- 
bility thrust  upon  them  by  this  problem,  and  added : 

"Whatever  may  be  the  grievances  of  the  laboring 
classes  here,  I  believe  our  men  are  better  paid,  better 
clothed,  better  housed  and  have  fairer  prospects  than 
those  of  any  other  nation  I  have  visited.  ...  As  we  all 
have  a  share  in  the  blessings  of  the  republic,  so  should 
we  all  take  an  active  and  loyal  part  in  upholding  the  Com- 
monwealth, which  gives  liberty  without  license  and  wields 
authority  without  despot!.sm. 

"The  man  who  would  endeavor  to  undermine  the  laws 
and  institutions  of  this  country  deserves  the  fate  of  those 


A  TRIUMPHAL  RETURN  HOME  391 

who  laid  profane  hands  on  the  Ark  of  the  Lord.  There 
are  some  misguided  men  in  our  country — thank  God,  they 
are  very  few — who  are  appropriately  called  anarchists 
and  nihilists.  They  are  so  infatuated,  not  to  say  un- 
grateful to  their  country,  that,  like  Samson,  they  would 
fain  pull  down  the  constitutional  temple  which  shelters 
them,  even  though  they  should  perish  in  the  ruins.  May 
Almighty  God,  by  whom  rulers  reign  and  lawgivers  de- 
cree just  things,  preserve  our  country  for  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  our  generation  and  for  the  happiness  of 
countless  peoples  yet  unborn  I" 

The  patriotic  celebrations  which  are  always  numerous 
in  America  had  hitherto  been  seldom  marked  by  the  pres- 
ence of  a  Catholic  prelate.  There  was  a  practise  of  be- 
ginning some  of  these  observances  with  an  invocation,  but 
up  to  that  time  Protestant  ministers  had  been  called  upon 
almost  exclusively  to  perform  that  service.  In  many 
cases  there  had  been  no  disposition  to  show  discourtesy 
toward,  or  neglect  of,  the  Catholic  Church;  but  there  had 
been  a  gulf  of  misunderstanding  which  had  prevented 
the  invitations  from  being  extended  to  any  others  than 
non-Catholics. 

Now  this  gulf  was  becoming  dry  land,  to  be  passed 
over  as  the  children  of  Israel  passed  over  the  rift  in  the 
Red  Sea.  There  was  a  Catholic  prelate — and  he  occu- 
pied the  highest  position  of  his  Church  in  America — 
whom  no  one  would  suspect  of  unwillingness  to  discharge 
any  public  or  semi-public  duty  which  he  might  be  solicited 
to  perform. 

Thus  when  preparations  were  being  made  to  celebrate 
in  1887  the  centennial  of  the  American  Constitution,  an 
invitation  was  given  to  Cardinal  Gibbons  to  offer  the 


392  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

closing  prayer  on  September  17,  the  anniversary  of  the 
signing.  The  invitation  was  extended  by  Hampton  L. 
Carson  in  behalf  of  those  who  organized  the  centennial, 
exercises.    The  Cardinal  replied: 

"Baltimore,  August  23,  1887. 
"H".  L.  Carson,  Esq.,  Secretary, 
"Philadelphia. 
"Respected  Dear  Sir: — 

"I  beg  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  favor  informing 
me  that  I  am  invited  to  make  the  closing  prayer  on  the 
17th  day  of  September  next,  and  to  invoke  a  benediction. 

"I  gratefully  accept  the  invitation,  and  shall  cheer- 
fully comply  with  the  request  of  the  committee  by  per- 
forming the  sacred  duty  assigned  to  me. 

"I  heartily  rejoice  in  common  with  my  fellow  citizens 
in  the  forthcoming  celebration.  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  is  worthy  of  being  written  in  letters  of 
gold.  It  is  a  charter  by  which  the  liberties  of  sixty  mil- 
lion people  are  secured,  and  by  which  under  Providence 
the  temporal  happiness  of  countless  millions  yet  unborn 
is  to  be  perpetuated. 

*T  am, 

"Yours  very  sincerely  in  Christ, 

"James  Cardinal  Gibbons, 
"Archbishop  of  Baltimore." 

There  seemed  always  to  be  a  prayer  for  his  country  in 
Gibbons'  heart  struggling  to  find  utterance.  For  this  occa- 
sion he  framed  a  petition  of  a  kind  which  he  often  used  at 
future  public  ceremonies  of  national  import  and  in  which 
the  patriotic  appeal  far  exceeded  in  fervor  that  which 
was  usually  to  be  found  in  the  rather  formal  prayers 
which  most  clergymen  offered  at  such  times.  It  was 
based  upon  one  written  by  Archbishop  Carroll,  which 


A  TRIUMPHAL  RETURN  HOME  395 

Gibbons  had  modified  to  suit  the  occasion  and  was  as 
follows : 

*'We  pray  Thee,  O  God  of  might,  wisdom  and  justice, 
through  whom  authority  is  rightly  administered,  laws  are 
enacted  and  judgment  decreed,  to  assist  with  Thy  holy 
spirit  of  counsel  and  fortitude  the  President  of  these 
United  States,  that  his  administration  may  be  conducted 
in  righteousness,  and  be  eminently  useful  to  Thy  people 
over  whom  he  presides,  by  encouraging  due  respect  for 
virtue  and  religion,  by  a  faithful  execution  of  the  laws 
in  justice  and  mercy,  and  by  restraining  vice  and  immo- 
rality. 

"Let  the  light  of  Thy  divine  wisdom  direct  the  delib- 
erations of  Congress  and  shine  forth  in  all  their  proceed- 
ings and  laws  framed  for  our  rule  and  government,  so 
that  they  may  tend  to  the  preservation  of  peace,  the  pro- 
motion of  national  happiness,  the  increase  of  industry, 
sobriety  and  useful  knowledge,  and  may  perpetuate  to  us 
the  blessings  of  equal  liberty. 

"We  pray  Thee  for  all  judges,  magistrates  and  other 
officers  who  are  appointed  to  guard  our  political  welfare, 
that  they  may  be  enabled  by  Thy  powerful  protection  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  their  respective  stations  with 
honesty  and  ability. 

"We  pray  Thee  especially  for  the  judges  of  our  Su- 
preme Court,  that  they  may  interpret  the  laws  with  even- 
handed  justice.  May  they  ever  be  the  faithful  guardians 
of  the  temple  of  the  constitution,  whose  construction  and 
solemn  dedication  to  our  country's  liberties  we  commem- 
orate today.  May  they  stand  as  watchful  and  incor- 
ruptible sentinels  at  the  portals  of  this  temple,  shielding 
it  from  profanation  and  hostile  invasion. 

"May  this  glorious  charter  of  our  civil  rights  be  deeply 
imprinted  on  the  hearts  and  memories  of  our  people. 
May  it  foster  in  them  a  spirit  of  patriotism;  may  it  weld 


394  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

together  and  assimilate  in  national  brotherhood  the 
diverse  races  that  come  to  seek  a  home  amongst  us.  May 
the  reverence  paid  to  it  conduce  to  the  promotion  of  social 
stability  and  order,  and  may  it  hold  the  aegis  of  its  pro- 
tection over  us  and  generations  yet  unborn,  so  that  the 
temporal  blessings  which  we  enjoy  may  be  perpetuated. 

"Grant,  O  Lord,  that  our  republic,  unexampled  in  the 
history  of  the  world  in  material  prosperity  and  growth  of 
population,  may  be  also,  under  Thy  over-ruling  provi- 
dence, a  model  to  all  nations  in  upholding  liberty  with- 
out license,  and  in  wielding  authority  without  despotism. 

"Finally,  we  recommend  to  Thy  unbounded  mercy  all 
our  brethren  and  fellow-citizens  throughout  the  United 
States,  that  they  may  be  blessed  in  the  knowledge  and 
sanctified  in  the  observance  of  Thy  most  holy  law,  that 
they  may  be  preserved  in  union  and  in  that  peace  which 
the  world  can  not  give,  and  after  enjoying  the  blessings 
of  this  life,  be  admitted  to  those  which  are  eternal. 

"Our  Father,  who  art  in  Heaven,  hallowed  be  Thy 
name;  Thy  kingdom  come;  Thy  will  be  done,  on  earth, 
as  it  is  in  heaven;  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,  and 
forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass 
against  us;  and  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver 
us  from  evil.     Amen." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  prayer  the  Cardinal  invoked 
a  benediction  in  the  following  words: 

"May  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God,  Father,  Son  and 
Holy  Ghost,  descend  upon  our  beloved  country  and  upon 
all  her  people,  and  abide  with  them  forever.    Amen." 

President  Cleveland,  his  cabinet  and  a  host  of  dis- 
tinguished men  were  present  at  the  exercises.  Many  of 
these  the  Cardinal  knew  personally,  and  others  were  eager 
to  meet  the  churchman  who  had  done  so  much  for  his 


A  TRIUMPHAL  RETURN  HOME  395 

country  at  home  and  abroad.  His  red  robe,  an  unfamiliar 
sight  in  America,  invested  his  presence  among  the  crowds 
with  a  novel  interest;  and  when  they  found  that  it  cov- 
ered a  man  as  typically  American  as  any,  alert,  active, 
patriotic  to  the  core,  sharing  keenly  their  enthusiasm  for 
the  institutions  of  the  country,  he  became,  next  to  the 
President,  the  principal  figure  in  the  celebration. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
THE  VISION  OF  THE  WEST 

Gibbons'  imagination  had  been  stirred  by  tales  of  the 
West,  which  he  had  not  been  able  to  visit  in  his  earlier 
years.  Indeed,  the  West  was  to  most  Americans  in  1887 
an  unknown  land,  invested  in  their  minds  with  a  mysteri- 
ous and  fanciful  character.  Railroads  had  only  recently 
begun  to  radiate  widely  from  the  main  arteries  that 
linked  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,  and  the  stream  of 
settlers,  long  congested  by  the  necessity  of  slow  travel  in 
"prairie  schooners,"  was  now  bursting  like  a  flood  through 
a  suddenly  opened  dam.  Thousands  of  cowboys  still 
roamed  on  the  cattle  ranges.  Many  parts  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  region,  and  the  States  to  the  west  of  it,  were  so 
remote  from  centers  of  civil  government  that  the  rude 
judicial  processes  of  the  mining  camp  continued  to  be 
practised  there.  But  these  conditions  were  not  to  prevail 
long.  Ambitious  towns,  and  even  cities,  already  stood 
where  but  a  few  years  before  the  howl  of  the  coyote 
had  pierced  an  otherwise  silent  wilderness. 

The  material  transformation  of  the  West  fascinated 
Gibbons,  but  the  mainspring  of  his  interest  was  in  carry- 
ing the  Cross  wherever  the  settler's  pack  mule  penetrated. 
He  had  become  familiar  with  the  former  religious  com- 
plexities which  hindered  the  full  progress  of  the  Church 
in  that   region,   through  the   insistent  demand   of  the 

396 


THE  VISION  OF  THE  WEST  397 

Bishops  that  unified  regulations  adapted  to  their  part  of 
the  country  should  be  framed  by  the  Third  Plenary 
Council.  Now  that  the  Council  had  done  its  work,  the 
Church  was  able  to  expand  with  equal  facility  among  the 
settlers  from  the  American  East  who  were  thronging  to 
the  States  of  the  West,  among  the  peoples  of  Mexican 
stock,  still  numerous  in  the  lands  inhabited  by  their  an- 
cestors in  the  southwestern  territories  that  had  been  in- 
corporated in  the  United  States  through  the  fortunes  of 
war;  and  among  the  Germans,  Italians,  Poles  and  Scan- 
dinavians who  were  pouring  in  large  numbers  into  Ne- 
braska, Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  the  Dakotas  and 
other  States  along  the  courses  of  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Missouri. 

The  progress  of  Gibbons  was  a  triumph,  for  Americans 
are  exceptionally  quick  to  recognize  a  national  champion 
and  to  elevate  him  to  the  position  of  a  popular  hero. 
Tidings  of  what  he  had  done  in  Rome  and  since  his  return 
seemed  to  have  spread  even  to  remote  hamlets.  A  mighty 
wave  of  appreciation  swept  over  the  Western  land. 

The  opportunity  which  he  had  seized  for  his  trip  was 
an  invitation  to  confer  the  pallium  at  Portland,  Oregon, 
upon  Archbishop  Gross,  his  long-time  friend,  "borii 
.nearly  in  the  same  street,"  as  he  said,  and  the  brother  of 
that  faithful  priest,  the  Rev.  Mark  S.  Gross,  with  whom 
he  had  shared  privations  and  labors  in  North  Carolina. 
Leaving  Baltimore  late  in  September,  he  went  to  Chicago, 
where  he  was  the  guest  of  Archbishop  Feehan;  then  to 
Milwaukee,  a  center  of  German  born  Catholics,  where  he 
was  entertained  by  Archbishop  Heiss. 

The  city  of  St.  Paul,  the  seat  of  Archbishop  Ireland, 


398  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

his  ardent  champion  and  coworker  in  struggles  both  in 
Rome  and  in  this  country,  was  in  a  bustle  of  preparations 
to  receive  him.  A  public  reception  was  given  in  his  honor 
there  on  September  20,  and  a  banquet  was  held  at  which 
the  Archbishop  spoke  in  eulogy  of  the  distinguished  guest. 
The  tone  of  all  the  speeches  was  one  of  acclamation  of 
the  new  Cardinal  as  an  American  citizen  and  as  a  prince 
of  the  Church.  Judge  William  L.  Kelly,  speaking  for 
the  laity,  dwelt  upon  the  recent  participation  of  Gibbons 
in  the  Constitutional  Centennial  celebration,  saying: 

"But  yesterday,  at  the  invitation  of  your  fellow-citi- 
zens, irrespective  of  religious  faith  or  political  association, 
you,  priest.  Archbishop,  Cardinal,  raised  your  hand  above 
the  assembled  multitudes  and,  in  the  name  of  your  sacred 
office,  invoked  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God  upon  the 
Constitution  of  these  United  States.  In  that  particular, 
illustrious  sir,  your  voice,  it  seems  to  me,  was  not  merely 
that  of  the  priest,  but  of  the  prophet  of  God  as  well.  .  .  . 
The  old  lines  that  have  long  kept  us  apart  from  our 
brethren  without  the  fold  are,  thank  God,  well  nigh 
obliterated  here.  On  all  great  questions,  social  and  politi- 
cal, we  stand  in  St.  Paul  side  by  side.  We  are  staunch 
in  our  religious  faith,  and  they  in  theirs,  and  the  honesty 
of  neither  is  questioned;  and  no  one  has  done  more  to 
bring  about  that  cordial  catholic  condition  of  things  than 
the  man  who  sits  at  your  side.  To  name  him  is  to  do  him 
honor — John  Ireland." 

The  Cardinal  aroused  the  crowd  by  one  of  those  happy 
sentences  which  he  knew  well  when  and  how  to  use.  He 
exclaimed : 

"You  were  pleased  to  mention  my  pride  in  being  an 
American  citizen.  It  is  the  proudest  earthly  title  I  pos- 
sess." 


THE  VISION  OF  THE  WEST  399 

He  could  not  forbear  to  refer  to  the  gifted  and  coura- 
geous comrade  who  had  stood  with  him  in  the  supreme 
stress  of  some  of  the  principal  battles  which  he  had 
fought — battles  in  which  the  material  welfare  of  men 
was  sought  as  well  as  their  spiritual  welfare.  Of  Arch- 
bishop Ireland  he  said: 

"For  many  years,  I  have  been  closely  watching  Arch- 
bishop Ireland's  career.  It  was  my  pleasure  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  him  at  the  last  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore. 
For  three  weeks  I  studied  him,  and  the  more  I  studied 
him,  the  more  I  admired  and  loved  him.  Archbishop 
Ireland  came  to  you  as  a  Providential  messenger  sent  to 
you  by  Almighty  God.  He  has  done  untold  good  through 
the  temporal  blessings  which  he  has  helped  to  bestow 
upon  society." 

In  the  same  address  he  spoke  publicly  for  the  first 
time  of  a  movement  then  much  agitated  to  incorporate 
the  name  of  God  in  the  national  Constitution.  Many 
clergymen  had  joined  in  this  agitation.    Gibbons  said: 

"For  my  part  I  have  not  desired  to  see  that  venerable 
name  used  in  this  respect,  so  long  as  it  remains  inscribed 
on  the  tablets  of  the  hearts  of  the  people  and  the  rulers 
of  the  nation.  I  would  rather  speak  with  the  living  cap- 
tain than  with  the  figure  on  the  prow  of  the  ship." 

Proceeding  to  Montana,  then  but  scantily  peopled,  he 
was  the  guest  of  Bishop  Brondel  at  Helena,  which  greeted 
him  with  a  popular  outpouring.  By  this  time  he  had 
caught  some  of  the  buoyancy  of  the  western  spirit  and  in 
responding  to  the  welcome  he  predicted  that  marked  ma- 
terial development  would  come  to  that  State.  Again  he 
emphasized  his  sense  of  honor  in  being  an  American,  say- 


400  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ing  that  it  was  as  great  a  title  as  the  citizenship  of  which 
the  ancient  Romans  were  accustomed  to  boast.  His 
travels  abroad,  he  said,  had  enhanced  his  love  for  his  own 
country,  and  he  felt  a  faith  in  its  destiny  which  had 
upheld  him  in  the  trials  through  which  he  had  passed. 

Reaching  Portland  early  the  next  month,  he  officiated  ^ 
at  the  investiture  of  Archbishop  Gross,  which  was  at- 
tended by  all  the  prelates  of  the  Northwest,  who  felt  a 
special  compliment  to  their  part  of  the  country  in  the 
presence  of  the  Cardinal.  The  citizens  of  Portland  gave 
him  a  public  reception  the  next  day  at  which  H.  E. 
McGlynn,  in  an  address,  took  occasion  to  recall  his  vic- 
tory for  labor,  saying: 

"As  long  as  men  are  compelled  to  labor ;  as  long  as  they, 
feel  called  upon  to  unite  for  their  own  protection;  as 
long  as  the  Divine  mandate  remains  true,  'in  the  sweat 
of  thy  face  shall  thou  eat  bread,'  so  long  shall  the  name 
of  Cardinal  Gibbons  be  venerated  among  men." 

The  earnestness  of  the  speaker  reflected  the  acuteness 
of  the  labor  question  at  that  time  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
where,  in  new  soil,  the  seed  of  agitation  took  root  more 
deeply  and  more  quickly  than  in  the  cities  and  towns 
along  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  There  had  been  some  vio- 
lence, and  there  was  danger  of  more  violence  in  the 
movement  there.  The  Cardinal  seized  the  opportunity 
in  his  response  to  plead  for  peaceful  adjustments  between 
capital  and  labor. 

One  of  the  compliments  which  touched  him  most  in  the 
course  of  his  trip  was  paid  to  him  at  Fort  Vancouver, 
where   General   John   Gibbon,   the   commander,    enter- 

*  On  Sunday,  October  9. 


THE  VISION  OF  THE  WEST  401 

tained  him.  When  he  arrived  there  by  boat,  Lieutenant 
Anderson,  who  commanded  a  squad  of  soldiers  sent  by 
the  commander  to  meet  him,  said: 

"Your  Eminence,  it  was  customary  in  ancient  times 
when  a  prince  of  the  realm  traveled  for  the  governors  of 
cities  to  release  some  prisoners  in  honor  of  his  visit.  As 
you  are  a  Prince  of  the  Church,  I  intend  to  release  some 
men  confined  here." 

He  then  summoned  six  private  soldiers  from  the  prison 
in  the  fort,  and  said  to  them : 

"Soldiers,  consider  yourselves  free  in  honor  of  Cardinal 
Gibbons." 

The  circumstance  that  his  visit  was  an  instrument  of 
mercy  to  these  men  pleased  Gibbons  far  more  than  the 
official  honors  which  were  extended  to  him. 

Everywhere  he  was  received  as  an  eminent  citizen,  no 
less  than  as  a  leader  of  the  Church.  One  welcoming 
speech  after  another  rang  in  his  ears,  and  no  man  was 
readier  than  he  to  respond  in  the  vein  which  was  habitual 
to  him  on  such  occasions.  In  San  Francisco  Archbishop 
Riordan  was  particularly  cordial  and  entertained  him 
most  hospitably  for  several  days.  Los  Angeles,  where 
the  Catholic  population  was  also  large,  swelled  with  the 
importance  of  the  occasion,  and  Lieutenant-Governor 
Stephen  M.  White,  afterward  United  States  Senator, 
made  an  address  to  him  there  in  behalf  of  the  people. 

Returning  by  way  of  New  Orleans,  that  city,  where 
he  had  spent  part  of  his  youth  and  where  his  family  still 
resided,  hailed  him  as  its  own.  In  behalf  of  the  Catholics 
there,  a  gold  chain  and  ring  and  a  diamond  cross  were 
presented  to  him  at  a  public  reception.    An  address  of 


402  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

welcome  was  made  by  Edward  Douglas  White,  afterward 
Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 

The  Cardinal  returned  from  his  transcontinental  tour 
with  new  vigor  and  inspiration.  He  had  absorbed  deep 
and  lasting  impressions.  They  supplemented  an  ideal 
which  he  had  formed  in  his  study  of  American  history, 
which  had  become  and  remained  throughout  his  life  one 
of  the  favored  and  fascinating  subjects  of  his  extensive 
reading.  With  a  glow  of  hope,  before  he  had  seen  the 
West  for  himself,  he  had  traced  in  the  pages  of  books 
the  adventures  of  the  Catholic  missionaries  who  had  pene- 
trated that  region  centuries  in  advance  of  the  tide  of  set- 
tlers, and  carried  the  Cross  along  great  and  unknown 
rivers  and  across  steep  and  pathless  mountains.  Was 
not  the  Catholic  Church  at  home  in  a  country  watered 
by  the  Mississippi,  which  De  Soto  had  discovered  and 
named  in  honor  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  which  Marquette  and 
Joliet,  trusting  themselves  to  an  Indian  canoe,  had  ex- 
plored for  thousands  of  miles  and  dedicated  to  the  Im- 
maculate Conception;  which  Hennepin  had  ascended  to 
the  falls  which  he  had  named  in  honor  of  St.  Anthony 
of  Padua?  Was  she  not  at  home  in  the  new  States 
erected  from  the  immense  region  which  Coronado  had 
penetrated  with  his  adventurous  Spaniards,  carrying  the 
Cross  and  celebrating  the  Mass  on  prairie  and  desert  and 
by  the  sides  of  rivers  which  flowed  into  the  still  greater 
"Father  of  Waters'?" 

Many  of  these  pioneers  had  given  up  their  lives 
that  Christianity  might  illumine  the  dark  vastness 
of  the  Western  World.  Might  not  their  example  of 
lofty  sacrifice  now  inspire  the  Catholics  of  a  later  cen- 


THE  VISION  OF  THE  WEST  403 

tury  to  follow  with  eagerness  where  the  way  had  been 
shown"?  The  same  Church  which  had  gone  in  advance  of 
the  settlers  of  the  West  must  now  advance  again  as  they 
advanced. 

This  was  the  hope  that  had  sprung  to  life  in  Gibbons 
before  he  had  started  toward  the  Pacific ;  it  had  taken  on 
new  strength  and  fervor  as  he  progressed  through  the 
stern  climate  of  the  Northwest  and  backward  through 
the  hot  breezes  of  the  States  near  the  Mexican  border. 
He  knew  that  some  day  thousands  of  men  would  dwell 
where  one  then  cultivated  a  township  farm  or  ranged  his 
cattle  over  half  a  county.  Cities  would  grow  where 
hamlets  had  stood;  and  men  with  a  mission  to  the  whole 
nation  would  arise  from  among  the  sons  of  these  pioneers, 
who  as  yet  toiled  only  at  the  foundations  of  a  new  devel- 
opment of  life  which  the  imagination  could  not  fore- 
cast. Gibbons  had  observed  that  in  the  whole  region 
won  from  Mexico  the  Catholic  Church  retained  the  strong 
affections  of  the  people.  Germans,  Irishmen,  Italians, 
Poles  and  peoples  of  other  European  countries  who  had 
been  children  of  the  Church  in  the  lands  of  their  birth 
were  helping  to  make  the  prairies  bloom  with  their  in-, 
dustry,  and  mine  and  factory  rang  with  the  sound  of  their 
labor. 

One  of  the  most  profound  impressions  which  he  re- 
ceived on  the  trip  was  that  the  Church  must  try  to  train 
these  diverse  national  elements  that  were  taking  new  root 
on  western  soil  to  build  truly  American  homes  which 
would  replace  those  they  had  left  in  Europe.  Within 
these  homes,  he  wished  the  people  to  have  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  country  in  which,  whatever  their  origin,  they 


404.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

had  now  cast  their  lot.  He  wished  them  to  be,  as  soon  as 
possible,  homogeneous  with  their  brothers  in  the  forests 
of  Maine  and  the  cotton  fields  of  Louisiana.  If  America 
were  to  integrate  instead  of  disintegrate,  the  men  and 
women  of  the  new  West,  in  his  view,  must  be  one — not 
one  in  individuality,  but  in  those  elementary  traits  of 
citizenship  which  he  associated  with  the  American  char- 
acter and  the  American  nation.  They  must  share  a  com- 
mon respect  with  all  Americans  for  the  rights  of  others, 
a  common  submission  to  the  political  judgment  of  the 
majority  after  free  and  fair  elections  in  which  every  man 
might  exercise  the  right  of  franchise,  a  common  faith  in 
the  perpetuity  of  their  institutions,  in  the  liberty  which 
gave  every  man  a  chance,  a  common  aspiration  for  a 
greater  America  that  would  be  an  example  and  a  blessing 
to  the  remainder  of  the  world. 

He  did  not  close  his  eyes  to  the  danger,  of  which  there 
was  no  lack  of  ominous  indication,  that  antagonisms  born 
of  national  differences  in  the  countries  from  which  they 
had  sprung,  and  of  political  ideals  germinating  from 
seeds  planted  abroad,  might  prevent  the  consummation 
of  a  unified  political  destiny  for  them  in  their  new  sur- 
roundings. He  was  resolved  that,  as  far  as  in  him  lay, 
this  should  not  be;  and  faith  in  his  country  upheld  him 
in  the  belief  that  it  would  not  be. 

It  was  not  his  way  to  observe  a  condition  like  this  and 
merely  deplore  the  danger  of  it.  Neither  did  he  lull  his 
own  apprehensions  with  the  view  that  the  assimilation  of 
the  foreign  elements  in  America  was  the  work  of  the 
political  authorities  alone.  It  seemed  to  him  that  it  was 
also  the  work  of  the  Church,  the  shepherd  of  the  largest 


THE  VISION  OF  THE  WEST  405 

group  of  them,  to  make  them  as  soon  as  possible  Ameri- 
cans. He  felt  that  she  must  cooperate  powerfully  in 
bringing  the  foreigners  who  were  peopling  America  in 
intimate  touch  with  their  new  environment  as  rapidly  as 
possible ;  that  they  must  be  made  to  feel  that  their  chil: 
dren  would  look  to  the  men  of  '76  as  the  fathers  of  the 
political  system  under  which  they  lived,  a  system  of  free 
commonwealths  retaining  local  self-government  '^in  ^ 
large  sense,  and  yet,  despite  this  lack  of  cohesion  in  some 
things,  bound  by  a  unity  of  national  purpose  as  strong  as 
in  the  closely-knit  empires  that  then  dominated  middle 
and  eastern  Europe. 

Gibbons  felt  that  these  people  were  different  from 
other  Americans  only  in  degree,  for  all  who  lived  here, 
except  the  Indians,  were  foreigners  by  descent.  They 
must  not  be  allowed  to  believe  that  the  flood  tide  of  di- 
verse immigration  could  shake  the  fabric  founded  by  the 
fathers  and  cemented  during  generation  after  generation 
by  American  patriots  and  statesmen.  The  Catholic 
Church,  which  had  been  the  spiritual  guide  of  most  of 
these  newcomers,  in  which  they  had  been  baptized  and 
taught — this  Church  could  perform  a  great  service  to  the 
nation  by  leading  them  forward  to  that  community  of 
language,  social  custom  and  political  hopes  which  were 
essential  to  their  own  welfare,  no  less  than  to  the  welfare 
of  the  other  millions  who  dwelt  under  the  protection  of 
the  same  flag. 

The  contrast  had  impressed  Gibbons  in  the  West  be- 
tween the  lavish  opportunities  offered  to  the  newcomers 
for  their  material  prosperity  and  the  cramped  economic 
conditions  of  Europe,  with  which  his  travels  had  made 


406  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

him  familiar ;  he  felt  that  gratitude  for  the  benefits  found 
here  should  be  one  of  the  powerful  motives  in  turning 
immigrants  to  complete  identification  with  the  land  of 
their  destiny.  The  thought  that  some  of  these  men  should 
take  advantage  of  their  presence  here  to  sow  discontent 
and  attempt  to  decry  the  institutions  into  whose  shelter- 
ing arms  they  had  fled  was  abhorrent  to  him. 

This  feeling  found  expression  in  an  address  which  he 
made  a  few  months  after  his  return  from  the  West  ^  at 
a  convention  held  at  Hot  Springs,  North  Carolina,  in  the 
interest  of  immigration  to  the  South.  Among  those  who 
took  prominent  parts  in  that  convention  were  governors 
of  some  of  the  Southern  States,  railroad  presidents,  and 
other  leading  citizens  with  whom  the  Cardinal  made  com- 
mon cause  in  their  efforts  to  divert  part  of  the  stream  of 
immigrants  to  the  rich  opportunities  in  the  South,  which 
needed  their  labor  in  its  struggle  upward  from  the  rav- 
ages of  war.    In  an  address  at  the  convention,  he  said : 

"I  have  lately  traveled  extensively  in  various  countries; 
of  the  Old  World,  and  very  recently  in  the  vast  regions 
of  the  North  and  West  of  our  own  country.  I  have  trav- 
eled in  both  hemispheres  with  both  eyes  wide  open,  and 
as  a  result  of  my  observations,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying  that  these  United  States  offer  to  the  industrious 
immigrants  such  advantages  as  working  people  cannot 
possibly  have  in  the  old  countries.  There  are  in  Europe 
vast  standing  armies,  which  are  a  very  serious  drain  on 
the  moral,  material  and  industrial  resources  of  the  coun- 
tries. On  the  other  hand,  in  our  favored  land  we  have 
only  a  small  standing  army  scattered  over  parts  of  the 
border. 

•April  25,  1888. 


THE  VISION  OF  THE  WEST  407 

"We  have  no  conflicts.  We  are  at  peace  among  our- 
selves and  with  all  the  world.  This  healthful  condition 
is  not  due  entirely  to  the  fruitfulness  of  the  soil,  but 
mainly  to  the  thrift,  economy  and  indomitable  energy  of 
the  American  people.  In  the  objects  of  this  assembly 
you  have  my  heartiest  concurrence  and  my  very  best 
wishes  for  a  full  measure  of  success." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
RELATIONS  WITH  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND 

For  Leo  XIII,  the  friend  of  America  and  of  America's 
Cardinal,  the  year  1887  was  marked  by  the  close  of  half 
a  century's  labor  in  the  priesthood.  None  knew  so  well 
as  Gibbons  what  he  had  done  for  America;  none  knew 
better  what  he  had  done  for  humanity.  The  rulers  of 
European  nations,  and  even  the  Sultan,  were  sending  to 
Rome  gifts  expressive  of  their  felicitations,  not  only  to 
the  earthly  head  of  a  Church  adhered  to  by  250,000,000 
people,  but  to  the  man  who  had  been  the  balance-wheel 
of  Europe.  The  desire  was  strong  in  Gibbons  that 
America  should  not  be  wanting  in  recognition  of  the 
anniversary,  and  Leo  had  intimated  to  him  that  an  ex- 
pression from  this  country  would  be  welcomed. 

One  day  after  his  return  from  his  western  tour  he  was 
considering  how  to  bring  this  matter  to  the  attention  of 
President  Cleveland,  when  his  difficulty  was  happily 
solved  by  the  arrival  of  the  following  letter  in  the  hand- 
writing of  the  President: 

"Executive  Mansion, 
"Washington,  November  17,  1887. 
His  Eminence  Cardinal  Gibbons: 

"My  dear  Sir — I  have  thought  that  you  would  send  to 
the  Pope  your  congratulations  on  the  occasion  of  the 
approaching  jubilee. 

408 


RELATIONS  WITH  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND  409 

"Remembering  with  much  gratitude  and  satisfaction 
the  kind  words  you  brought  from  the  Holy  Father  upon 
your  recent  return  from  Rome,  I  should  be  very  much 
pleased  if  you  could,  without  impropriety  on  your  part, 
convey  to  him  my  congratulations  and  felicitations. 

"Hoping  that  you  are  quite  well  after  your  extended 
travel,  I  am 

"Yours  very  sincerely, 

"Grover  Cleveland." 

The  Cardinal  who,  in  the  meantime  had  become  a 
rather  frequent  visitor  to  the  White  House,  responded 
promptly  by  calling  upon  Mr.  Cleveland  and  thanking 
him  for  the  letter.  He  expressed  at  the  same  time  his 
hope  that  the  President  would  not  be  content  with  a 
formal  communication,  but  would  send  some  memento 
to  the  Pontiff  indicative  of  his  sentiments.  As  the  cen- 
tennial of  the  Constitution  had  just  been  commemorated, 
he  suggested  that  a  copy  of  the  Constitution  would  be 
one  of  the  most  appropriate  of  gifts. 

"None  can  question  the  fitness  of  such  a  present," 
remarked  the  Cardinal,  "for  the  dissemination  of  the 
principles  of  our  government  abroad  would  be  above 
criticism." 

Mr.  Cleveland  accepted  the  Cardinal's  plan  as  a  happ3^ 
one.  The  Cardinal  said  that  he  would  have  a  copy  of  the 
Constitution  bound  suitably  for  the  presentation,  if  the 
President  would  furnish  the  unboimd  copy.  Mr.  Cleve- 
land would  not  assent  to  this,  but  said  with  emphasis : 

"I  shall  insist  upon  having  a  copy  bound  in  a  costly 
and  beautiful  manner,  if  you  will  tell  me  how  to  do  it." 

The  Cardinal  suggested  white  silk  or  satin  as  an  ap- 


410  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

propriate  binding.  Mr.  Cleveland  then  inquired  as  to 
the  manner  of  presentation,  and  the  Cardinal  suggested 
this  inscription  for  the  book: 

"Presented  through  Cardinal  Gibbons  to  the  Holy 
Father,  Pope  Leo  XIII,  on  the  occasion  of  the  golden 
jubilee  of  his  Holiness,  with  the  profound  regard  of 
Grover  Cleveland,  President  of  the  United  States." 

Mr.  Cleveland  inquired  how  much  time  was  left  in 
which  to  have  the  book  prepared,  and  was  told  that  it 
would  be  well  to  have  it  ready  in  about  ten  days.  On 
the  tenth  day  afterward  there  arrived  by  express  at  the 
archiepiscopal  residence  in  Baltimore  a  superbly  prepared 
volume  of  the  Constitution  printed  in  Old  English  charac- 
ters on  vellum,  bound  in  white  and  red,  and  bearing  the 
presentation  inscription  from  the  President  to  the  Pope. 
Colonel  John  T.  Morris,  of  Baltimore,  was  selected  to 
carry  it  to  Rome  for  presentation  at  the  jubilee  festivities. 

The  presentation  took  place  in  the  throne  room  of  the 
Vatican,  and  was  marked  by  an  exchange  of  cordial  sen-, 
timents.  Archbishop  Ryan  made  an  address,  and  Mgr. 
O'Connell  read  a  letter  to  the  Pope  from  Gibbons  con- 
veying the  President's  felicitations.  Replying,  Leo  ex- 
pressed his  delight  at  the  gift  and  added,  addressing 
Ryan: 

"As  an  Archbishop  you  enjoy  in  America  perfect  free- 
dom. That  freedom,  we  admit,  is  highly  beneficial  to 
the  spread  of  religion.  .  .  .  Toward  America  I  bear  a 
special  love.  .  .  .  Your  government  is  free,  your  future 
full  of  hope.  Your  President  commands  my  highest  ad- 
miration." 


RELATIONS  WITH  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND  411 

Leo  exhibited  the  gift  in  his  private  apartment,  with 
the  presentation  page  open  that  visitors  might  see.  Gib- 
bons notified  the  President  of  the  presentation  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter: 

"Cardinal's  Residence, 
"408  N.  Charles  St., 
''Personal.  "Baltimore,  January  21,  1888. 

"My  Dear  Mr.  President: 

"About  an  hour  after  mailing  my  letter  to  you  to-day, 
I  received  a  cablegram  from  Rome  informing  me  that 
your  valued  gift,  the  copy  of  the  Constitution,  was  pre- 
sented with  due  solemnity  to  the  Holy  Father,  by  a 
special  committee  charged  with  that  pleasing  and  honor- 
able duty,  and  that  the  Pope  received  it  with  marked  ex- 
pressions of  satisfaction  and  gratitude. 

"I  am  very  sorry  for  your  sake  that  the  gift  has 
aroused  the  bigotry  of  a  few  individuals.  But  for  one 
expression  of  dissent  it  will  evoke  fifty  expressions  of 
adhesion,  and  while  the  bigotry  of  the  few  will  pass 
away,  the  admiration  of  the  many  will  be  lasting. 
"With  much  esteem, 

"Yours  sincerely  in  Christ, 

"James  Card.  Gibbons." 

The  journal  of  Gibbons  contains  this  entry  of  a  fur- 
ther development: 

"April  9  [1888].  I  called  on  the  President  to 
show  him  the  letter  from  the  Holy  Father  acknowledging 
the  receipt  of  the  President's  gift  of  the  copy  of  the  Con- 
stitution. .  .  .  The  President,  after  hearing  the  transla- 
tion of  the  letter  read,  was  so  much  pleased  with  it  that 
he  asked  me  to  give  him  the  original,  a  favor  which  I 
readily  granted." 


412  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  letter  of  the  Pope  which  Mr.  Cleveland  retained 
was  addressed  to  Cardinal  Gibbons  and  charged  him  with 
the  duty  of  conveying  his  warm  thanks  to  the  President. 
Leo  wrote : 

"In  fulfilling  this  duty,  we  desire  that  you  should 
assure  the  President  of  our  admiration  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  not  only  because  it  enables  in- 
dustrious and  enterprising  citizens  to  attain  so  high  a 
degree  of  prosperity,  but  also  because  under  its  protec- 
tion your  Catholic  countrymen  have  enjoyed  a  libertj" 
which  has  so  confessedly  promoted  the  astonishing 
growth  of  their  religion  in  the  past  and  will,  we  trust, 
enable  it  in  the  future  to  be  of  the  highest  advantage  to 
the  civil  order  as  well."  * 

With  a  deep  sense  of  thankfulness,  the  Cardinal  pre- 
pared for  the  celebration  of  the  Papal  jubilee  January  l, 
1888,  in  all  the  churches  of  his  diocese.  His  sermon  on 
that  occasion  flowed  from  the  depths  of  his  heart.  Pic- 
turing Leo  to  the  great  congregation,  he  pictured  also 
the  standard  which  he  had  set  for  himself.    He  said : 

"Leo  XIII  is  to-day,  perhaps,  the  most  popular  man  in 
Europe,  if  not  the  world,  and  this  is  the  secret  of  his 
popularity:  He  understands  the  times  in  which  we  live; 
he  appreciates  the  fact  that  we  are  living  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  not  in  the  ninth ;  he  understands  the  wants 
of  the  people,  and  sympathizes  with  their  legitimate  as- 
pirations, while  at  the  same  time  he  is  always  the  pro- 
moter and  vindicator  of  law  and  order  and  legitimate 
government  everywhere.  He  has  found  the  key  to  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  and  has  entered  there.  Let  us  hope 
and  pray  that  this  great  luminary,  whom  the  Lord  has 

*A  copy  of  the  letter  is  in  the  Cathedral  Archives,  Baltimore. 


RELATIONS  WITH  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND  4)13 

set  over  His  Church,  may  long  linger  above  the  horizon 
to  enlighten  us  by  his  wisdom  and  to  cheer  us  by  his  ex- 
ample ;  and  when  his  course  is  run  and  his  light  on  earth 
is  extinguished,  may  he  shine  for  all  eternity  in  the 
kingdom  of  our  common  Father,  the  source  of  all  light 
and  the  author  of  all  justice. 

"The  present  illustrious  Pontiff  is  a  worthy  successor 
of  the  Gregories,  the  Innocents,  the  Piuses,  and  of  the 
long  line  of  Leos  that  have  preceded  him.  For  ten  years 
he  has  occupied  the  chair  of  Peter,  a  spectacle  to  the 
world,  to  angels  and  to  men ;  and  during  all  that  time  he 
has  excited  the  admiration  of  the  civilized  world  by  his 
luminous  intellect,  his  broad  statesmanship,  his  strong 
judgment,  his  keen  appreciation  of  things;  by  his  con- 
ciliatory disposition,  his  personal  integrity  and  purity 
of  life,  and  by  his  great  benevolence  of  character." 

A  warm  defender  at  all  times  of  the  mission  of  the 
Papacy  to  men  in  the  things  of  material  life,  as  well  as  in 
spiritual  things.  Gibbons  spoke  of  it  as  a  great  conserva- 
tive force  which  at  turning  points  in  the  world's  history 
had  guided  events  in  the  direction  of  civilization.  He 
proceeded : 

"But  has  not  the  Papacy  much  to  fear  from  the  prog- 
ress of  liberty'?  Give  us  liberty,  this  is  all  we  ask — a  fair 
field  and  no  favor.  The  Church  is  always  hampered  in 
her  operations  wherever  despotism  casts  its  dark  shadow. 
She  always  blooms  and  expands  in  the  genial  air  of  lib- 
erty. Amid  the  changes  in  human  institutions  the  Papacy 
is  one  institution  that  never  changes.  It  has  seen  the 
birth  of  every  existing  government  in  Europe,  and  it  is 
not  improbable  that  it  may  witness  the  death  of  some 
of  them  and  chant  their  requiem.  It  was  fourteen  hun- 
dred years  old  when  Columbus  discovered  America,  and 


414  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

our  own  Government  is  but  of  yesterday  as  compared 
with  it. 

"What  means  can  be  employed  to  overthrow  an  insti- 
tution which  for  nineteen  centuries  has  successfully  over- 
come every  opposition  waged  against  it*?  Is  it  by  the 
power  of  kings  and  emperors  and  prime  ministers  that 
the  Papacy  can  be  destroyed?  They  have  tried,  and 
tried  in  vain,  from  the  days  of  the  Roman  Caesars  to  our 
own  times.  Many  persons  labor  under  the  false  impres- 
sion that  in  fonner  times  the  Church  was  leagued  with 
the  princes  of  this  world  for  the  purpose  of  overthrowing 
the  liberties  of  the  people ;  that  the  altars  were  sustained 
by  the  thrones,  and  that  they  would  crumble  if  this  pro- 
tection were  withdrawn. 

"But  can  the  Church  cope  with  modern  inventions  and 
the  great  discoveries  of  the  nineteenth  century?  Rest 
assured  the  Church  will  not  hide  her  head,  like  the  ostrich 
in  the  sand,  at  the  approach  of  these  modem  inventions 
and  discoveries.  For,  if  Christianity  was  propagated  to 
the  uttermost  bounds  of  the  earth  at  a  time  when  we  had 
no  other  ships  but  frail  canoes,  no  other  compass  but  the 
naked  eye,  no  other  roads  but  eternal  snows  and  virgin 
forests  and  desert  wastes,  how  much  more  now  can  we 
effect  by  means  of  railroads  and  steamships? 

"Yes,  we  bless  you,  O  men  of  genius.  We  bless  your 
inventions  and  discoveries,  and  will  press  you  into  the 
service  of  the  Gospel,  and  we  will  say:  'Lightning  and 
clouds,  bless  the  Lord;  fire  and  heat,  bless  the  Lord;  all 
ye  works  of  the  Lord,  bless  the  Lord,  praise  and  exalt 
Him  above  all  forever.' 

"But  may  not  the  light  of  Christianity  grow  pale  and 
be  utterly  extinguished  before  the  intellectual  blaze  of 
the  nineteenth  century?  Have  we  not  much  to  fear  from 
the  arts  and  sciences  and  literature?  We  have  nothing 
to  fear,  but  everything  to  gain,  from  intellectual  devel- 
opment.   The  Church  has  always  been  the  patroness  of 


RELATIONS  WITH  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND  415 

literature   and   the  fostering  mother  of   arts   and  sci- 
ences. 

"At  no  period  of  the  history  of  Christianity  did  the 
Popes  wield  a  greater  power  than  from  the  twelfth  to  the 
sixteenth  century.  They  exercised  not  only  spiritual 
power,  but  also  temporal  jurisdiction,  and  had  great  in- 
fluence with  the  civil  rulers  of  those  days.  Now,  at  no 
period  did  the  human  intellect  revel  in  greater  freedom  in 
the  pursuit  of  speculative  knowledge  of  every  kind  than 
in  those  days.  It  was  emphatically  the  age  of  universi- 
ties. Forty-one  universities  sprang  up  during  those  four 
centuries — in  France,  Germany,  Belgium,  Ireland,  Italy, 
Spain,  England  and  Scotland." 

Cleveland  was  one  of  the  two  Presidents  with  whom 
Gibbons  formed  his  strongest  ties  while  they  were  in 
office;  the  other  was  Roosevelt.  He  always  appeared 
to  be  drawn  to  men  such  as  they,  whose  predominant  poli- 
cies of  action,  as  distinguished  from  policies  of  words, 
accorded  with  his  own  methods.  His  friendship  for 
Cleveland  and  Roosevelt,  and  indeed  for  several  other 
Presidents,  continued  long  after  their  retirement  from 
office. 

He  had  first  met  Mr.  Cleveland  a  few  days  after  the 
latter's  inauguration  in  1885,  visiting  him  at  the  White 
House  to  pay  his  respects,  and  remaining  half  an  hour. 
The  President  was  charmed  with  him  from  the  beginning 
and  urged  him  to  renew  his  visits  from  time  to  time. 
Cleveland  was  a  Presbyterian,  but,  like  Gibbons,  was 
singularly  free  from  prejudice  regarding  religion.  On 
not  a  few  occasions  he  leaned  upon  Gibbons'  advice  at 
critical  periods  of  his  career.  Once  when  the  Cardinal 
visited  him  in  1887,  he  remarked: 


416  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"Would  you  care  to  have  me  read  you  my  forthcom- 
ing message  on  the  tariff?" 

"I  shall  be  much  honored,"  was  the  reply. 

The  President  then  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  his 
ecclesiastical  friend,  word  by  word,  the  famous  message 
to  Congress  which  cost  him  reelection  in  1888,  but 
brought  about  his  overwhelming  victory  four  years  later. 
Gibbons,  in  giving  the  opinion  which  Cleveland  re- 
quested, commended  the  frankness  and  statesmanlike 
character  of  the  message,  but  did  not  hesitate  to  forecast 
the  political  complications  which  would  ensue  and  which 
soon  burst  with  a  force  of  public  reaction  which  sent  Mr. 
Cleveland  into  retirement  from  political  life  for  four 
years. 

Gibbons'  warm  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  Indians 
was  shared  by  Cleveland,  and  they  were  in  mutual  touch 
as  to  the  methods  of  administering  the  Indian  Bureau  at 
Washington.  There  was  much  complaint  against  the 
federal  agents  who  were  then,  to  a  large  extent,  inter- 
mediaries between  the  government  and  the  Indians  in 
their  homes  and  schools.  On  one  occasion  the  Cardinal 
wrote : 

"Baltimore,  December  6,  1887. 
"To  the  President: 
"My  dear  Sir: 

"I  take  the  liberty  of  enclosing  a  letter  received  this 
morning  from  Archbishop  Gross,  of  Oregon,  in  reference 
to  his  Indian  grievance.  I  think  the  Archbishop  and  the 
Indians  will  be  reasonably  satisfied  if: 

"First:  The  present  agent  be  transferred  from  Cof- 
fey elsewhere,  and  another  substituted  in  his  place.  The 
new  agent  could  be  selected  from  those  names  recom- 


RELATIONS  WITH  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND  417 

mended  by  the  Archbishop,  or  some  other  might  be  ap- 
pointed in  the  discretion  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

"Second:  It  would  be  a  great  consolation  to  the  poor 
Indians  if  the  Sisters  were  restored  as  teachers. 

"I  also  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  by  enclosing  a 
letter  from  Bishop  Wadhams,  of  Ogdensburg,  who  recom- 
mends Rev.  J.  G.  Normandeau  for  the  post  of  army 
chaplain. 

"I  am  the  more  emboldened  in  presenting  these  re- 
quests, as  your  excellency  kindly  introduced  these  sub- 
jects in  our  late  conversation. 

"I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  humble  servant  in 

^^^^^^'  ''James  Cardinal  Gibbons." 

Cleveland  refused  to  appoint  any  Catholic  chaplain  to 
the  army  without  the  recommendation  of  Gibbons.  On 
one  occasion  great  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  on  him 
to  appoint  a  certain  priest  who  did  not  enjoy  the  Car- 
dinal's confidence.  Gibbons  was  frequently  importuned 
to  recommend  the  priest,  but  firmly  declined  to  do  so. 
Resort  was  then  had  to  threats,  and  it  was  intimated  that 
if  Cleveland  and  Gibbons  did  not  recede  from  their  atti- 
tude they  would  be  pictured  in  the  pages  of  Fuck.  This 
showed  a  serious  mis  judgment  of  the  characters  of  these 
two  men  for,  among  the  other  traits  which  they  possessed 
in  common,  both  were  so  constituted  that  threats  would 
only  make  them  more  fixed  in  any  position  which  they 
assumed  on  a  question  of  right  and  wrong.  The  clergy- 
man was  not  appointed. 

Mr.  Cleveland  often  referred  to  his  friend  as  one 
of  the  most  sterling  types  of  the  American  citizen.  Upon 
meeting  persons  from  Baltimore,  he  not  infrequently 
said: 


418  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"From  Baltimore'?  Oh,  that  is  Cardinal  Gibbons* 
city!  There  are  some  men  in  Baltimore  whom  I  par- 
ticularly admire,  and  none  more  than  the  Cardinal." 

Mr.  Cleveland  sent  to  the  Cardinal  a  copy  of  his  last 
message  to  Congress  delivered  in  his  first  term  as  Presi- 
dent. In  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  it,  the  Cardinal 
wrote : 

"Baltimore,  December  15,  1888. 
"My  dear  Mr.  President: 

"I  beg  to  thank  you  for  your  admirable  message,  which 
you  kindly  sent  me. 

"I  profit  by  this  occasion  to  offer  you  my  heartfelt 
thanks  for  the  many  courtesies  you  have  extended  to  me 
during  your  administration,  now  drawing  to  a  close. 

"Rest  assured  that  in  returning  to  private  life  you  will 
bear  with  you  undiminished  the  high  esteem  and  regard 
I  entertained  for  you  in  your  public  career. 

"Wishing  you  every  blessing  from  Divine  Providence, 
"lam 

"yours  faithfully  in  Christ, 

"James  Cardinal  Gibbons, 
"Archbishop  of  Baltimore.* 


a 


Gibbons  was  fond  of  saying  that  one  of  the  best  evi- 
dences which  he  found  of  the  stability  of  American  insti- 
tutions was  the  acquiescence  of  all  in  the  verdicts  of 
presidential  elections.  In  November,  1888,  he  issued  a 
Thanksgiving  circular  in  which  he  drew  this  lesson  from 
the  election  held  a  few  weeks  before,  at  which  General 
Harrison  had  been  chosen  to  succeed  Mr.  Cleveland : 

"In  other  lands  the  times  for  choosing  the  rulers  of 
the  nation  are  often  occasions  of  political  convulsion,  of 
the  interruption  of  all  peaceful  pursuits,  and  sometimes 


RELATIONS  WITH  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND  419 

even  of  strife  and  bloodshed.  The  recent  contest  be- 
tween 10,000,000  voters  of  this  Republic,  representing 
60,000,000  people,  has  been  settled  peaceably  and  con- 
stitutionally, without  the  loss  of  a  single  life  or  even  any 
interruption  of  men's  ordinary  avocations."^ 

At  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  first  Presi- 
dent's inauguration,  April  30,  1889,  he  issued  a  pastoral 
letter  directing  the  ringing  of  all  church  bells  for  half 
an  hour,  and  a  special  service  in  every  Catholic  house  of 
worship  in  the  diocese  of  Baltimore.  In  this  letter  he 
expressed,  "profound  satisfaction  that  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  without  regard  to  race  or  creed  or  previ- 
ous allegiance  to  any  flag  whatsoever"  were  recognizing 
the  life  and  achievements  of  Washington,  "a  gift  of 
Almighty  God  to  his  own  age  and  an  exemplar  to  all  the 
ages  to  be."  The  Cardinal  was  present  at  the  Mass  cele- 
brated in  the  Baltimore  Cathedral  in  honor  of  the  anni- 
versary. 

In  and  out  of  the  pulpit  he  was  fond  of  quoting  les- 
sons from  the  life  of  Washington.  Perhaps  next  to 
Washington,  his  favorite  character  in  American  history 
was  Franklin,  of  whose  services  in  the  formative  period 
of  the  Republic  he  had  a  vivid  appreciation.  He  was 
always  ready  to  defend  his  belief  that  Americans  were  a 
religious  people,  and  one  of  the  instances  which  he  cited 
most  frequently  to  prove  his  point  was  the  counsel  of 
Franklin  to  his  colleagues  in  the  constitutional  conven- 
tion of  1787,  when  they  seemed  to  have  reached  an  im- 
passe in  their  deliberations,  to  seek  "light  from  the  Father 
of  Light  to  illumine  our  understanding." 

'  Cathedral  Archives,  Baltimore. 


420  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

In  the  early  years  of  Gibbons'  Cardinalate,  as  well  as 
at  rather  frequent  intervals  afterward,  the  question  of 
the  reunion  of  Christendom  was  much  discussed  in  Prot- 
estant circles.  The  Rev.  Dr.  H.  K.  Carroll,  religious 
editor  of  the  Independent^  a  New  York  weekly,  sought 
the  views  of  Gibbons  on  this  subject,  and  he  replied  in  a 
vein  in  which  he  subsequently  answered  other  inquiries 
of  the  same  nature.    The  letter  was: 

"Baltimore,  October  l,  1886. 
''Rev.  H.  K.  Carroll, 
"The  Indeperident, 
"New  York. 
"Rev.  and  Dear  Sir: 

"I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  29th  ult.,  in  which 
you  ask  my  views  as  a  Catholic  upon  the  movement  now 
going  on  in  the  Anglican  Church,  having  for  its  object  the 
'Reunion  of  Christendom.'  .  .  .  Allow  me  to  say  that 
I  cannot  conceive  any  practical  plan  for  the  ecclesiastical 
union  of  all  who  bear  the  Christian  name  which  does  not 
recognize : 

"1.  Some  authority  living  and  acting  that  can  defi- 
nitely say  what  is  or  what  is  not  Divine  truth,  since  upon 
its  revelation  the  Church  must  be  grounded. 

"2.  The  obligation,  strict  and  essential,  of  receiving 
in  its  entirety  Christian  revelation,  since  Christ's  work  in 
giving  a  revelation  would  be,  to  say  the  least,  useless  if 
each  individual  were  left  free  to  accept  or  reject  that 
revelation  or  any  part  of  it,  as  his  whim  might  dictate. 

"3.  That  since  Christ  left  a  revelation  He  must  have 
left  some  authorized  interpreter  of  it,  otherwise  it  would 
be  as  a  puzzle  given  to  unaided  ignorance.  .  .  . 

"4.  That  since  the  mission  of  Christ's  Church  is  to 
teach  all  nations,  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  He 
has  commanded,  there  must  be  some  teacher  teaching  in 


RELATIONS  WITH  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND  421 

Christ's  name  and  'as  one  having  authority'  to  guide  the 
people  unerrii^ly  in  the  way  of  truth.  In  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  Luther 
went  out  from  her,  these  great  requisites  of  Christian  unity 
were  found,  and  they  are  found  as  well  in  the  Catholic 
Church  to-day;  elsewhere  I  fail  to  find  them. 

"In  separation  from  the  See  of  St.  Peter,  the  center 
of  Catholic  unity,  I  can  see  only  discord.  In  all  this 
broad  land  there  is  no  one  who  longs  for  Christian  unity 
more  than  I  do,  and  no  one  who  would  labor  more  ear- 
nestly to  bring  it  about.  ... 

"I  remain, 

"Most  sincerely  yours  in  Christ, 

"James  Card.  Gibbons, 

"Archbishop  of  Baltimore." 


CHAPTER  XXV 
A  CENTURY  OF  CATHOLIC  ADVANCE 

Gibbons  had  received  the  red  hat  as  the  first  century 
of  the  Hierarchy's  existence  in  America  was  drawing  to  a 
close.  John  Carroll,  standing  shoulder  to  shoulder  with 
Washington,  had  begun  that  first  century  by  organizing 
the  Church  in  harmony  with  the  political  institutions  of 
the  Republic,  newly  bom  from  a  union  of  sparsely  popu- 
lated colonies  fringing  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  Gibbons 
began  the  second  century  by  giving  reality  in  a  nation 
then  nearing  a  population  of  100,000,000  to  the  wise 
plans  which  Carroll  had  formed.  Carroll  set  the  task; 
Gibbons  accomplished  it. 

While  Carroll  had  sought  to  have  the  Church  recog- 
nized as  a  pillar  of  the  Republic,  distrust  of  her  attitude 
toward  the  State  remained.  He  had  sought  to  have  her 
spiritual  aims  understood  by  the  mass  of  his  fellow-coun- 
trymen, but  they  continued  to  be  misunderstood.  He 
had  sought  to  have  the  freedom  of  religion,  guaranteed 
by  the  Constitution,  reflected  in  complete  and  equal  toler- 
ance by  men  of  all  creeds,  but  intolerance  clung  on  like 
a  parasite  to  a  vigorous  tree,  for  the  English  colonies 
parted  from  king  and  parliament  far  more  readily  than 
from  their  immemorial  prejudices.  His  was  a  voice  in  a 
wilderness,  and  the  wilderness  responded  but  faintly. 
The  Church  continued  for  a  long  time  to  be  a  feeble 
body  here,   almost   submerged  by   the  overwhelmingly 

422 


A  CENTURY  OF  CATHOLIC  ADVANCE      423 

greater  numbers  of  the  non-Catholic  population.  She 
struggled  patiently,  preserving  the  inspiration  from  the 
exam.ple  of  Carroll,  and  gathered  strength,  but  gathered 
it  slowly  at  first. 

And  then  came  Gibbons.  His  personality  dominated 
the  beginning  of  the  second  century  of  the  Hierarchy's 
life  as  Carroll's  had  dominated  the  begiiming  of  the  first. 
Where  Carroll's  efforts  had  failed  of  the  larger  fruition, 
Gibbons'  work  succeeded  even  beyond  hopes.  The  vis- 
ions of  long  years,  cherished  amid  the  gloom  of  misun- 
derstanding, were  turned  into  reality  at  last.  Intolerance, 
stricken  by  the  new  David,  almost  perished  utterly. 

Now  the  Church  was  not  only  a  prop  of  the  nation  as 
before,  but  Gibbons  made  the  evidence  of  this  so  clear 
that  men  without  distinction  of  creed  suddenly  hailed 
recognition  of  it  as  if  it  had  been  a  recent  discovery. 
Alarmists  who  had  been  cr}'ing  that  insidious  plots  for 
foreign  domination  through  ecclesiastical  artifice  were 
being  woven  subsided  into  silence  as  the  figure  of  Gib- 
bons loomed. 

WTiere  the  Church  had  increased  by  hundreds,  she  now 
grew  by  millions.  The  great  obstacle  to  her  progress  in 
America — the  obstacle  of  popular  hostility — had  been 
thrust  aside  under  the  brilliant  leadership  of  the  new 
Cardinal.  There  had  been  deep-seated  prejudice  against 
Catholics  holding  public  office.  Now  they  filled  many 
of  the  most  highly  placed  offices  in  the  nation,  the  states, 
the  cities.  The  religious  freedom  established  by  law  was 
no  longer  negatived  in  part  by  mass  prejudice.  The 
pathway  of  Catholic  progress  was  illuminated  by  joy, 
hope  and  confidence, 


424.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  Church  in  America  was  showing  in  abundance  the 
signs  of  healthy  growth.  New  questions  were  constantly 
coming  up  and  were  debated  with  vigor  and  spirit  by 
the  strong  men  who  composed  her  Hierarchy.  She  was 
the  antithesis  of  a  stagnant  church.  The  calm  of  medioc- 
rity was  not  upon  her.  The  misconception  that  she 
stifles  discussion  and  enforces  an  arbitrary  regime  took 
refuge  in  the  shadows.  Gibbons  wished  vitality  in  deed 
and  thought  and  brought  it  out.  Men  of  strong  con- 
victions received  marks  of  his  favor.  But  when  the 
voice  of  final  judgment,  framed  in  the  detached  and 
judicial  atmosphere  of  the  Curia,  went  out  from  Rome, 
it  was  heeded  nowhere  else  with  greater  readiness  than 
in  the  United  States. 

On  this  subject  he  wrote: 

"Religious  discussions  are  not  an  evil  in  themselves. 
On  the  contrary,  they  are  an  evidence  of  a  healthy  men- 
tal activity,  a  proof  of  zeal  for  the  cause  of  truth.  But 
in  order  that  they  may  be  useful  and  edifying,  the  parties 
engaged  in  them  should  be  actuated  solely  by  a  love  for 
truth.  They  should  present  their  views  with  calmness 
and  moderation;  they  should  adhere  with  conscientious 
fidelity  to  the  question  under  consideration,  without  en- 
cumbering it  with  side  issues  or  irrelevant  matter;  they 
should  invariably  treat  their  opponents  with  courtesy  and 
benevolence,  never  ascribing  base  or  sinister  motives;  and 
they  should  abandon  the  controversy  if  they  discover  that 
charity  is  likely  to  be  offended  by  it."  ^ 

In  the  same  connection  he  quoted  with  approval  the 
following  views  of  Cardinal  Newman: 

*The  Ambassador  of  Christ,  p.  113. 


A  CENTURY  OF  CATHOLIC  ADVANCE      425 

"Differences  always  have  been,  always  will  be  in  the 
Church,  and  Christians  would  have  ceased  to  have  spir- 
itual and  intellectual  life  if  such  differences  did  not  exist. 
It  is  part  of  their  militant  state.  No  human  power  can 
hinder  it;  nor,  if  it  attempted  it,  could  do  more  than 
make  a  solitude  and  call  it  peace.  And  thus  thinking  that 
man  cannot  hinder  it,  however  much  he  try,  I  have  no 
great  anxiety  or  trouble.  Man  cannot,  and  God  will 
not.  He  means  such  differences  to  be  an  exercise  of  char- 
ity. Of  course  I  wish  as  much  as  possible  to  agree  with 
all  my  friends ;  but  if,  in  spite  of  my  utmost  efforts,  they 
go  beyond  me  or  come  short  of  me,  I  can't  help  it  and 
take  it  easy."  ^ 

As  marking  the  close  of  the  Hierarchy's  first  century 
in  1889,  Gibbons  might  have  been  content  with  a  service 
in  Baltimore  to  which  dignity  would  have  been  lent 
by  the  presence  of  the  Bishops  of  the  mother  province 
and  a  few  prelates  from  other  Sees;  but  his  eyes  were 
on  the  future  more  than  the  past,  and  he  seized  the 
opportunity  to  organize  a  national  celebration  of  the  most 
imposing  proportions  which  it  was  possible  for  the  Church 
to  display.  He  conceived  the  design  of  passing  her  in 
review  before  the  eyes  of  the  American  people,  so  that 
they  might  see  what  she  had  been,  what  she  was  and  what 
she  wished  to  be;  that  they  might  scan  her  in  every  aspect 
when  there  would  be  a  full  and  conspicuous  opportunity 
to  do  so.  Thus,  at  one  stroke,  he  might  be  able  to  pro- 
duce the  effect  of  years  of  striving.  He  wished  to  keep 
the  Church  out  of  seclusion ;  to  bring  her  before  the  pub- 
lic so  that  there  could  be  no  mystery  or  doubt,  real  or 
imaginary,  about  her  purposes  or  methods.     Misunder- 

*  Letter  to  W.  G.  Ward. 


426  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

standing  was  the  foe  which  he  fought  with  the  restless 
ardor  of  a  crusader  of  old. 

America  had  been  passing  through  more  than  a  decade 
of  centennial  celebrations  marking  her  progress  as  a  na- 
tion since  the  troubled  beginnings  in  1775  and  1776.. 
The  people  had  welcomed  each  new  one  as  eagerly  as  if 
it  had  been  the  first.  Gibbons,  in  his  preparations,  fol- 
lowed the  customary  methods  which  had  appealed  so 
powerfully  to  his  fellow-countrymen.  His  executive 
capacity  was  shown  in  the  organization  of  church  and 
civic  demonstrations  which  were  to  last  nearly  a  week, 
and  were  to  be  in  a  form  which  would  be  certain  to  draw 
the  interest  of  the  nation  as  nothing  bearing  the  name 
Catholic  had  ever  drawn  it  before. 

Sensing  the  temperament  of  Americans  as  few  men 
were  able  to  do,  he  knew  the  deep-seated  nature  of  their 
general  view  of  the  importance  of  participation  by  lay- 
men in  the  work  of  churches ;  and  he  organized  a  congress 
of  .the  laity  as  the  main  event  of  the  week  following  the 
ecclesiastical  commemoration  at  the  opening.  He  had 
been  looking  forward  to  the  dedication  of  the  School  of 
Sacred  Sciences  at  the  Catholic  University  of  America, 
the  first  of  the  group  of  buildings  for  that  institution 
erected  upon  the  spacious  site  obtained  for  it  in  what  was 
then  an  outlying  district  of  Washington.  Linking  in  his 
mind  the  physical  foundation  of  the  university  with  the 
centenary,  he  formed  the  design  of  timing  the  dedica- 
tion so  that  it  would  be  one  of  the  principal  events  of 
the  general  celebration. 

In  his  view,  nothing  could  be  more  appropriate  than 
the  putting  forward  at  that  time  of  a  great  Catholic  edu- 


A  CENTURY  OF  CATHOLIC  ADVANCE      427 

cational  project  in  a  country  which  stood  as  the  pioneer 
and  foremost  representative  of  the  principle  of  widely  dif- 
fused intelligence.  It  gave  him  particular  satisfaction 
that  the  center  of  Catholic  education  in  America  should 
be  planted  at  the  center  of  government,  a  truly  national 
institution,  working  independently  of  the  forces  of  civil 
rule,  but  strengthening  them  by  diffusing  the  light  which 
qualifies  free  men  for  the  duties  of  citizenship. 

Mindful  always  of  seeking  advice,  of  "having  his  ear 
to  the  ground,"  as  Americans  say,  he  consulted  leaders 
of  the  Hierarchy  and  of  the  clergy  and  laity  regarding 
the  plans  that  took  shape  in  his  mind.  From  these  con- 
sultations he  acquired  valuable  suggestions  which  he  in- 
corporated among  the  details  of  his  project.  Having 
completed  his  outline,  he  proceeded  without  delay  to  put 
it  in  execution. 

As  is  the  American  way  in  arranging  for  public  cele- 
brations, an  imposing  group  of  committees  was  soon 
working  in  preparation  for  the  celebration.  Each  had 
its  especial  field,  and  the  fountain  head  of  inspiration  for 
all  was  Gibbons,  assisted  by  the  exceptionally  competent; 
staff  which  he  had  then  been  able  to  assemble  in  his  own 
household.  He  was  entitled  to  a  high  place  among  those 
whom  Americans  later  called  "efficiency  experts."  The 
faculty  of  directing  and  inspiring  others  to  accomplish 
big  results  by  organization  was  personified  by  him, 
though  he  was  averse  to  working  by  means  of  ponderous 
and  showy  processes.  He  sought  results  and  adapted  his 
methods  to  the  men  with  whom  he  worked.  His  little 
study  became  for  a  time  like  the  oflfice  of  the  executive 
of  a  great  industrial  corporation. 


428  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  American  press,  keen  interpreter  of  the  popular 
mind,  developed  a  degree  of  interest  which  it  had  shown 
in  no  Catholic  event  before.  Special  correspondents  were 
sent  to  Baltimore,  and  the  columns  of  leading  journals,, 
most  of  which  were  controlled  by  non-Catholics,  were 
soon  spreading  the  details  of  the  centenary  and  what  it 
meant  before  millions  of  readers.  A  degree  of  intimacy 
was  established  between  the  Church  and  the  people,  in  a 
broad  sense,  which  had  been  unknown. 

The  forces  set  in  motion  by  Gibbons  now  seemed  to 
sweep  over  the  land  as  in  waves.  For  the  first  time,  non- 
Catholic  Americans  began  to  realize  that  John  Carroll 
was  something  more  than  a  pious  priest  whose  activities 
centered  in  beads  and  breviary.  Gibbons  was  interpret- 
ing Carroll  and  making  the  interpretation  known  to  his 
fellow-countrymen;  he  was  interpreting  the  Church  at 
the  same  time.  He  knew  as  no  American  churchman  of 
any  creed  had  known  before  him  how  to  carry  his  mes- 
sage to  the  multitude.  His  desire  was  that  the  light  of 
the  Church  should  shine  before  men. 

He  hoped  that  the  mass  of  his  fellow-countrymen 
would  share  his  view  that  Carroll  had  been  a  providential 
agent  for  the  cause  of  religion  and  the  cause  of  the 
American  Republic.  In  a  sermon  on  "The  Growth  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States,"  he  said: 

"If  a  prelate  of  narrow  views,  a  man  out  of  sympathy 
and  harmony  with  the  genius  of  the  new  republic,  had 
been  chosen  (as  the  first  American  Bishop)  the  progress 
of  religion  would  have  been  seriously  impeded.  It  is 
true,  the  Constitution  has  declared  that  no  one  should 
be  molested  on  account  of  religion;  but  a  written  instru- 


A  CENTURY  OF  CATHOLIC  ADVANCE      429 

ment  would  have  been  a  feeble  barrier  to  stem  the  tide  of 
popular  and  traditional  prejudice,  unless  it  was  vindi- 
cated and  fortified  by  the  patriotic  example  of  the  patri- 
arch of  the  American  Church. 

"John  Carroll  was  the  man  for  the  occasion.  We  may- 
apply  here  the  words  spoken  of  John  the  Baptist :  There 
was  a  man  sent  from  God  whose  name  was  John.  He 
came  as  a  witness,  to  bear  witness  of  the  light.'  " 

In  another  sermon  ^  he  said : 

"The  Catholic  religion  subsists  and  expands  under  all 
forms  of  government,  and  adapts  itself  to  all  times  and 
places  and  circumstances;  and  this  it  does  without  any 
compromise  of  principle  or  any  derogation  from  the  su- 
preme authority  of  the  Church  or  any  shock  to  the  in- 
dividual conscience.  For,  while  the  truths  of  faith  are 
eternal  and  immutable,  the  discipline  of  the  Church  is 
changeable,  just  as  man  himself  is  ever  the  same  in  his 
essential  characteristics,  while  his  dress  varies  according 
to  the  fashion  of  the  times.  Archbishop  Carroll  was  thor- 
oughly conversant  with  the  genius  of  our  political  con- 
stitution and  with  the  spirit  of  our  laws  and  system  of 
government.  He  was  therefore  admirably  fitted  for  the 
delicate  task  of  adjusting  the  discipline  of  the  Church 
to  the  requirements  of  our  civil  constitution." 

Pius  VI  had  established  the  Catholic  Hierarchy  in  the 
United  States  by  a  brief  issued  November  6,  1789,  giving 
to  Carroll  as  the  first  Bishop  of  Baltimore  a  jurisdiction 
which  extended  over  all  the  territory  then  comprised  in 
the  federal  union.  Carroll  had  been  one  of  the  most 
active  patriots  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  He  had 
gone  to  Canada  in  1776  with  Benjamin  Franklin,  Samuel 

'On  "Reminiscences  of  the  Cathedral  of  Baltimore." 


430  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Chase  and  his  cousin,  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  on  a 
mission  to  obtain  the  cooperation  of  that  country  with  the 
colonies  to  the  south  which  were  battling  for  self-govern- 
ment. In  1776  American  Catholics  numbered  about  25,- 
000,  or  one  in  120  of  the  whole  population;  when  Car- 
roll was  consecrated,  they  numbered  only  32,000,  or  one 
in  107.  His  consecration  took  place  in  the  chapel  of 
Lulworth  Castle,  Dorsetshire,  England,  the  seat  of 
Thomas  Weld,  father  of  the  future  Cardinal  Weld; 
Bishop  Walmesley,  Vicar- Apostolic  of  the  western  dis- 
trict of  England,  was  the  consecrating  prelate.* 

By  1889  the  Catholic  population  of  the  United  States 
had  swelled  to  9,000,000.  From  Carroll  as  a  corner- 
stone the  Hierarchy  had  risen  in  its  first  hundred  years  to 
the  proportions  of  13  Archbishops  and  71  Bishops,  the 
spiritual  overseers  of  8000  priests,  10,500  churches  and 
chapels,  27  seminaries  for  the  training  of  the  clergy,  650 
colleges  and  academies  for  the  higher  education  of  youth, 
3100  parish  schools  and  520  hospitals  and  asylums. 

Gibbons  wrote  to  Leo  XIII  outlining  the  plans  for  the 
celebration.  The  Pope  encouraged  it  with  lively  interest, 
replying : 

"That  great  love  for  country  and  for  religion,  which 
you  and  our  brethren,  the  Bishops  of  the  United  States, 
have  so  often  and  so  nobly  manifested,  is  again  strikingly 
illustrated  in  the  letter  which  you  have  recently  addressed 
to  us.  From  it  we  learn  that  pastors  and  people  are  about 
to  assemble  in  Baltimore  to  celebrate  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  establishment  of  the  Hierarchy  of  the 
United  States.     On  the  same  occasion  you  propose  to 

*Guilday,   The  Life  and  Times  of  John  Carroll,  pp.  92  et  aeq.,  356 
et  seq.,  373. 


A  CENTURY  OF  CATHOLIC  ADVANCE      431 

dedicate  the  Catholic  University,  which,  with  the  gen- 
erous help  of  the  faithful,  you  have  founded  in  Wash- 
ington as  a  happy  presage  of  future  greatness  for  the  new 
era  upon  which  you  are  about  to  enter. 

"It  is  truly  worthy  of  your  faith  and  hope  thus  grate- 
fully to  recall  the  blessings  bestowed  upon  your  country 
by  Divine  Providence,  and  at  the  same  time  to  raise  up 
in  memory  of  them  a  monument  which  will  be  an  honor 
to  yourselves  and  a  lasting  benefit  to  your  fellow-citizens 
and  to  the  country  at  large.  We  gladly  unite  with  you 
in  returning  thanks  to  God,  the  author  of  all  gifts.  At 
the  same  time,  we  cordially  congratulate  you  on  the  zeal 
with  which  you  emulate  the  example  of  your  glorious 
predecessors,  faithfully  treading  in  their  footsteps,  whilst 
ever  widening  the  field  opened  by  their  apostolic  labors. 

"Most  joyfully  have  we  welcomed  the  expression  which 
you  and  the  other  Bishops  convey  to  us  of  your  loyalty 
and  devotion  to  the  Apostolic  See.  We  desire,  in  return,; 
to  assure  you  that,  like  our  predecessors  of  blessed  mem- 
ory, we,  too,  bear  an  especial  love  toward  you,  our  breth- 
ren, and  the  faithful  committed  to  your  care,  and  that  we 
pray  frequently  for  your  prosperity  and  welfare,  gath- 
ering comfort  meanwhile,  no  less  from  the  readiness  of 
your  people  to  cooperate  in  all  manner  of  good  works 
than  from  the  examples  of  sacerdotal  virtue  which  are 
daily  set  before  them. 

"In  regard  to  your  wish  that  some  representative  from 
this  city  should,  in  our  name,  be  present  at  your  cele- 
bration, we  readily  assent  to  it,  the  more  willingly  be- 
cause his  presence  will  be  an  especial  mark  of  our  esteem 
and  benevolence,  and  of  that  bond  of  affection  and  char- 
ity which  unites  pastors  and  people  to  the  supreme  head 
of  the  Church. 

"In  conclusion,  we  earnestly  pray  to  God,  protector  and 
guardian  of  the  Catholic  cause,  that  under  the  excellent 
and  favored  public  institutions  by  which  you  are  able  to 


432  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

exercise  with  freedom  your  sacred  ministry,  your  labors 
may  redound  to  the  benefit  of  Church  and  country;  and 
as  a  pledge  of  our  especial  affection  we  lovingly  impart 
the  Apostolic  benediction  to  you,  to  our  venerable  breth- 
ren, the  Bishops  of  the  United  States,  and  to  the  clergy 
and  faithful  committed  to  your  charge."  ^ 

Monsignor  O'Connell  brought  this  letter  from  Rome 
to  Cardinal  Gibbons.  He  was  soon  followed  by  the  rep- 
resentative whom  the  Pope  had  promised  to  send,  Fran- 
cesco di  Paola  Satolli,  Archbishop  of  Lepanto,  an  Italian 
theologian  of  deep  learning  and  wonderful  eloquence, 
who  was  destined  to  play  a  great  part  in  the  relations  be- 
tween the  Holy  See  and  the  Catholics  of  the  United 
States.  Satolli's  first  impression  was  one  of  amazement 
at  the  proportions  of  the  celebration;  and,  though  he 
could  speak  no  English,  he  soon  showed,  after  the  man- 
ner of  Tocqueville  and  Bryce,  a  faculty  for  understand- 
ing the  true  spirit  of  American  institutions  beyond  the 
capacity  of  most  men  born  here. 

Cardinal  Manning  was  invited  with  especial  warmth, 
and,  had  he  come  to  Baltimore,  would  have  shared  with 
his  friend.  Cardinal  Gibbons,  the  honors  of  the  occasion ; 
but  age  had  at  last  interposed  its  relentless  barrier  against 
that  iron  will,  and  he  was  forced  to  decline,  sending 
Bishop  Virtue,  of  Portsmouth,  and  Monsignor  Gadd  in 
his  place. 

From  Canada  came  Cardinal  Taschereau  and  six 
Bishops;  from  Mexico,  Bishops  Gillow  and  Montez 
D'Oca;  and  Archbishop  Croke  sent  a  fervent  letter  from 
the  prelates  of  Ireland. 

'Letter  of  Leo  XIII  to  Cardinal  Gibbons,  September  7,  1889. 


A  CENTURY  OF  CATHOLIC  ADVANCE      433 

For  the  opening  of  the  celebration  in  November,  every 
American  prelate  was  present  in  the  mother  Cathedral, 
except  the  aged  Archbishop  Kenrick,  of  St.  Louis,  whose 
feeble  health  prevented  him  from  making  the  journey 
half  way  across  the  continent.  Besides  these,  400  priests, 
the  same  number  of  seminarians,  and  several  organiza- 
tions of  laymen  took  part  in  the  procession  which  pre- 
ceded the  Pontifical  High  Mass.® 

Archbishop  Ryan,  whose  oratorical  powers  were  then 
at  their  best,  delivered  a  sermon  which  expressed  the 
dominant  spirit  of  the  gathering.  His  voice  vibrated  with 
the  bounding  hope  of  the  occasion  as  he  said : 

"A  wonderful  future  is  before  the  Church  in  this  coun- 
try if  we  are  only  true  to  her,  to  the  country  and  to  our- 
selves. She  has  demonstrated  that  she  can  live  and  move 
and  widen  without  State  influence;  that  the  atmosphere 
of  liberty  is  most  congenial  to  her  constitution  and  most 
conducive  to  her  progress.  Let  us  be  cordially  American 
in  our  feelings  and  sentiments,  and,  above  all,  let  each 
individual  act  in  his  personal  life  and  character  the 
spirit  of  his  Catholic  faith." 

Sketching  the  trials  and  struggles  of  the  Church  in  the 
century  that  had  closed,  he  pointed  out  that  a  great 
change  in  popular  sentiment  toward  her  had  come, 
saying: 

"Catholics  and  Protestants  now  associate  more  freely 
and  intimately  and  understand  each  other  better.    Intel- 

*  Souvenir  Volume,  Centennial  Celebration  and  Catholic  Congress, 
published  by  William  H.  Hughes,  Detroit,  1889.  This  book  and  Reily's 
Collections  in  the  Life  and  Times  of  Cardinal  Gibbons,  Vol.  I,  the  files 
of  the  Catholic  Mirror,  and  the  Baltimore  newspapers  of  that  time,  are 
the  authorities  for  many  of  the  facts  cited  in  this  chapter. 


434  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Hgent  Protestants  are  gradually  being  dispossessed  of  the 
old  notion  that  Catholics  exalt  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  a 
position  equal  to  that  of  the  Son,  that  priests  can  forgive 
sins  according  to  their  own  wish,  that  images  may  be 
adored  after  the  fashion  of  the  pagans,  that  the  Bible 
should  not  be  read,  and  other  absurd  supposed  doctrines 
and  practices  of  the  Church.  Because  of  this  enlighten- 
ment, and  because  of  the  high  character  of  American  con- 
verts in  the  past — men  like  Dr.  Brownson,  Dr.  Ives, 
Father  Hecker  and  many  others — it  is  possible  that  some 
of  the  ablest  defenders  of  the  Church  in  this  coming  cen- 
tury may  be  men  who  are  at  present  in  the  ranks  of  her 
opponents." 

Dwelling  upon  the  labors  of  Carroll  in  the  cause  of 
religion  and  country,  Archbishop  Ryan  said: 

"Love  of  country  and  race  is  a  feeling  planted  by  God 
in  the  human  heart,  and,  when  properly  directed,  becomes 
a  wall  of  virtue." 

He  rejoiced  at  the  bright  promise  afforded  by  the  un- 
fettered progress  of  religion  among  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  notwithstanding  the  discordant  elements 
of  which  they  were,  to  a  large  extent,  composed.  He 
said : 

"The  fathers  of  this  republic  had  to  form  a  constitution 
and  government  for  a  people  of  every  race,  language, 
color  and  nationality,  who  they  foresaw  would  inhabit 
this  land.  They  had  to  combine  a  political  catholicity 
with  a  political  unity,  and  to  hold  the  most  discordant 
elements  together  by  the  force  of  law.  So,  also,  before 
the  establishment  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  this  world, 
religions  were  national  in  their  organization,  though  uni- 
versal in  their  fundamental  principles,  and  were  adapted 
to  particular  peoples  of  the  same  race  and  language.    But 


A  CENTURY  OF  CATHOLIC  ADVANCE      435 

the  Church  was  destined  to  embrace  within  her  govern- 
ment the  peoples  of  every  nation  under  heaven,  to  com- 
bine the  most  diverse  elements  and  firmly  to  unite  them 
and  hold  them  for  all  time;  and  in  no  one  country  of 
the  world  had  we  to  exercise  this  power  so  much  as  here, 
for  nowhere  else  were  they  found  together." 

At  Pontifical  Vespers  celebrated  in  the  presence  of  the 
massed  Hierarchy  the  towering  figure  of  John  Ireland, 
Archbishop  of  St.  Paul,  appeared  in  the  pulpit.  Ryan, 
the  orator  par  excellence,  was  the  voice  of  Gibbons; 
Ireland  was  his  right  hand  among  the  Archbishops.  Ire- 
land was  the  Marshal  Ney  of  the  new  Catholic  move- 
ment, daring  sometimes  to  the  extent  of  what  timid  men 
called  rashness,  sweeping  to  his  objectives  with  im- 
petuous onset.  Gibbons  leaned  upon  him  as  Napoleon 
leaned  upon  Ney,  trusting  in  his  splendid  powers  of 
thought  and  action,  his  ardent  loyalty.  In  almost  all 
things  Ireland  saw  as  his  leader  saw. 

Yet  there  were  striking  points  of  difference  between 
these  two  potent  and  magnetic  personalities.  Ireland, 
swept  along  by  faith  in  the  causes  which  he  espoused, 
sometimes  disdained  expediency;  Gibbons  seldom  did. 
Ireland  gave  immediate  utterance  to  the  flaming  word 
that  leaped  into  his  brain;  Gibbons  waited  until  time 
and  events  gave  the  opportunity  to  speak  that  word  so 
that  it  would  be  invested  with  the  greatest  force.  Ire- 
land, starting  for  a  conflict,  stopped  not  for  armor  except 
belief  in  his  vision  of  the  right,  stopped  not  even  for 
weapons  except  the  truth  as  it  was  given  to  him  to  voice 
from  the  depths  of  his  soul;  Gibbons  paused  to  survey 
the  line  of  march,  to  estimate  the  difficulties,  to  prepare 


436  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

himself  for  every  contingency  that  might  come  in  the 
swaying  tide  of  battle.  Ireland  was  the  ideal  lieutenant, 
with  many  of  the  highest  gifts  of  supreme  command; 
Gibbons  was  the  victorious  leader  who  lacked  nothing  of 
full  equipment  for  the  great  tasks  which  he  set  for  him- 
self and  those  whom  he  led. 

The  differences  between  these  men  were  differences  of 
temperament  and  method  only.  Their  main  thoughts 
flowed  in  streams  exactly  parallel.  They  were  Catholics 
to  the  core,  Americans  to  the  core.  Their  creed  was 
service  to  men.  The  service  of  religion  was  the  greatest 
which  they  could  give,  the  one  service  into  which  all 
others  blended;  but  they  interpreted  religion  in  a  sense 
which  excluded  nothing  that  would  lift  a  burden  from 
the  backs  of  men.  Their  common  impulse  was  not  to  sit 
in  the  house  and  bid  men  to  the  feast,  but  to  go  out  into 
the  highways  and  byways  and  compel  them  to  come.  As 
their  Divine  Exemplar  had  healed  the  sick,  so  would 
they  heal  the  physical  and  material  ills  of  their  brethren; 
as  He  had  given  sight  to  the  blind,  so  would  they 
open  the  eyes  of  others  to  the  full  rays  of  brilliant 
light. 

At  bottom  they  had  one  all-embracing  purpose:  the 
Catholic  Church  in  America  must  spread  religion  to  the. 
widest  bounds  among  the  people  of  the  country  which 
those  two  ardent  patriots  loved  as  Washington  loved  it. 
Their  fellow  citizens,  the  country,  needed  the  leaven  of 
religion  to  strengthen  them  and  it  for  the  mission  of 
example  and  help  to  other  peoples  and  governments 
which  they  firmly  believed  was  America's  mission. 
America  must  be  a  light  for  the  world.    She  must  first 


A  CENTURY  OF  CATHOLIC  ADVANCE       437 

practise  for  herself,  then  teach  to  all  humanity  the  prin- 
ciples of  political  liberty,  equality  of  human  right  and 
opportunity,  unselfish  service  to  and  for  all;  she  must 
spurn  with  righteous  revulsion  ancient  methods  of  inter- 
national chicanery,  of  covert  or  open  aggression  upon 
other  nations. 

How  were  these  large  ends  to  be  sought?  They  could 
not  be  attained,  as  Gibbons  and  Ireland  saw  the  outlook, 
by  shrinking  as  Catholics  before  the  doubt  and  suspicion 
which  some  of  their  non-Catholic  fellow  citizens  felt 
toward  the  Church;  by  withdrawing  into  the  deep 
shadows  where  they  might  escape  in  part  the  gaze  of 
hostility.  They  were  for  going  into  the  open,  mingling 
and  striving  with  the  crowd,  enduring  misunderstanding 
as  the  martyrs  had  endured  that  they  might  allay  and 
jfinally  destroy  it. 

As  men  of  religion,  they  held  the  full  faith  of  the 
Catholic  Church  without  a  fraction  of  modification;  as 
Americans  they  were  one  with  their  fellow  citizens  with- 
out distinction  of  creed,  in  simple,  natural  and  whole- 
hearted brotherhood. 

It  had  been  Ryan's  part  to  voice  in  his  strong  phrases 
the  troubled  story  of  the  first  hundred  years  of  the 
Hierarchy,  although  he  could  not  forbear  to  relieve  the 
picture  with  some  of  his  own  ardent  forecasting  of  the 
future.  For  Ireland  the  task  was  to  break  loose  from 
the  moorings  and  sail  his  bark  boldly  upon  the  unknown 
sea  of  the  hundred  years  that  were  to  come.  The 
subject  of  his  sermon,  "The  New  Century;  Responsi- 
bilities, Hopes  and  Duties,"  bespoke  the  faith  that  was 
in  him.     He  said : 


438  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"The  past  our  fathers  wrought;  the  future  will  be 
wrought  by  us.  The  next  century  in  the  life  of  the 
Church  in  America  will  be  what  we  make  it.  Our  work 
is  to  make  America  Catholic.  If  we  love  America,  if 
we  love  the  Church,  to  mention  the  work  suffices.  Our 
cry  shall  be  'God  wills  it,'  and  our  hearts  shall  leap  with 
Crusader  enthusiasm.  .  .  . 

"The  Catholic  Church  will  confirm  and  preserve,  as 
no  human  power  or  human  church  can,  the  liberties  of 
the  republic.  The  importance  of  the  position  of  America 
to  the  cause  of  religion  cannot  well  be  overestimated.  It 
is  a  Providential  nation.  How  youthful,  and  yet  how 
great!     How  bright  in  glorious  promise!   .  .  . 

"The  movements  of  the  modern  world  have  their 
highest  tension  in  the  United  States.  The  natural  order 
is  here  seen  at  its  best,  and  here  it  displays  its  fullest 
symmetry.  Here  should  the  Church,  unhampered  by 
the  government  or  by  despotic  custom,  come  with  the 
freedom  of  the  son  of  Issai,  choose  its  arms,  and,  march- 
ing straight  for  the  opposing  foe,  bring  the  contest  to  a 
speedy  close. 

"Of  inestimable  value  to  us  is  the  liberty  the  Church 
enjoys  under  the  constitution  of  the  republic.  No  tyrant 
here  casts  chains  around  her.  No  concordat  limits  her 
action  or  cramps  her  energies.  She  is  as  free  as  the  eagle 
upon  Alpine  hills — free  to  spread  out  in  unrestricted 
flight  her  pinions,  to  soar  to  vast  altitudes,  to  put  into 
action  all  her  native  energies.  The  law  of  the  land  pro- 
tects her  in  her  rights,  and  asks  in  return  no  sacrifices 
for  those  rights;  for  her  rights  are  those  of  American  citi- 
zenship. .  .  . 

"There  is  needed  a  thorough  sympathy  with  the  coun- 
try. The  Church  of  America  must  be,  of  course,  as  Catho- 
lic as  in  Jerusalem  or  Rome;  but,  so  far  as  her  garments 
assume  color  from  the  local  atmosphere,  she  must  be 
American.    Let  no  one  dare  paint  her  brow  with  foreign 


A  CENTURY  OF  CATHOLIC  ADVANCE      439 

tint  or  pin  to  her  mantle  foreign  linings!  There  is 
danger;  she  receives  large  accessions  of  natives  from  for- 
eign countries.  God  witnesseth  it,  they  are  welcome  I  I 
will  not  enter  upon  their  personal  affections  and  tastes; 
yet,  should  those  be  foreign,  they  shall  not  encrust  upon 
the  Church. 

"Americans  have  no  longings  for  a  church  of  foreign 
aspect.  It  would  acquire  no  influence  over  them.  In 
no  manner  could  it  prosper ;  exotics  have  but  sickly  forms. 
I  would  have  Catholics  be  the  first  patriots  in  the  land. 

"This  is  an  intellectual  age;  it  worships  intellect.  All 
things  are  treated  by  the  touchstone  of  intellect,  and  the 
ruling  power,  public  opinion,  is  formed  by  it.  The 
Church  will  be  judged  by  the  standard  of  intellect.  .  .  . 

"We  have  a  dreadful  lesson  to  learn  from  certain  Euro- 
pean countries  in  which,  from  the  weight  of  tradition, 
the  Church  clings  to  thrones  and  classes  and  loses  her 
grasp  upon  the  people.  Let  us  not  make  this  mistake. 
We  have  here  no  princes,  no  hereditary  classes ;  still,  there 
is  the  danger  that  there  may  be  in  religion  a  favorite 
aristocracy  upon  which  we  lavish  so  much  care  that  none 
remains  for  others. 

"What,  I  ask,  of  the  multitude  who  peep  at  us  from 
gallery  and  vestibule'?  What  of  the  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  nominal  Catholics  or  non-Catholics  who 
seldom  or  never  open  a  church  door?  What  of  the  un- 
couth and  unkempt,  I  ask,  of  the  cellar  and  the  areaway, 
the  mendicant  and  the  outcast  *?  It  is  time  to  bring  back 
the  primitive  Gospel  spirit,  to  go  out  into  the  highways 
and  byways,  to  preach  on  housetops  and  in  market  places. 
.  .  .  Save  the  masses  I  Cease  not  planning  and  working 
for  their  salvation.  ... 

"Seek  out  social  grievances ;  lead  in  movements  to  heal 
them.  Speak  of  vested  rights,  for  this  is  necessary;  but 
speak,  too,  of  vested  wrongs,  and  strive  by  precept,  word 
and  example,  by  the  enactment  and  enforcement  of  good 


440  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

laws  to  correct  them.    Breathe  fresh  air  into  the  crowded 
quarters  of  the  poor." 

Truly  the  centenary  celebration  was  a  feast  of  joy 
and  at  a  formal  dinner  given  in  honor  of  the  visiting 
prelates  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary  after  the  High  Mass 
felicitations  flowed.  A  cablegram  from  the  Pope  ex- 
pressing his  joy  at  the  triumphs  of  faith  which  the  occa- 
sion commemorated  was  read;  and  Archbishop  Satolli, 
whose  Latin  eloquence  was  then  heard  for  the  first  time 
in  America,  predicted  that  Leo  or  some  future  Pontiff 
would  visit  this  country.  Greetings  to  the  Church  in 
the  United  States  were  conveyed  by  Cardinal  Taschereau 
for  Canada;  by  the  Mexican  bishops  for  their  country; 
and  letters  were  read  from  English  and  Irish  prelates. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
A  CALL  TO  THE  LAITY— HIGHER  EDUCATION 

It  had  been  Archbishop  Ireland  who  had  proposed  the 
Congress  of  Laymen  in  connection  with  the  centennial 
Celebration  of  the  Hierarchy  and  Gibbons  had  adopted 
the  plan.  Such  a  gathering  of  representatives  of  the 
Catholic  body  assembled  for  purposes  embraced  in  the 
distinctive  bond  of  their  own  faith  would  have  provoked 
mob  violence  at  periods  not  then  so  long  past  in  the 
comparatively  brief  story  of  America.  Even  in  Balti- 
more, attendance  upon  it  would  have  meant  risking  life 
and  limb  no  further  back  than  thirty  years,  when  the 
"Know  Nothings"  held  the  city  in  their  bloody  grasp 
and  controlled  the  State  government,  proscribing  all 
who  held  the  Catholic  faith  from  equality  of  privilege  in 
civil  life.  Indeed,  when  the  torrent  of  intolerance  was 
below  flood  tide  during  some  periods  in  the  first  century 
of  the  Republic,  a  national  assemblage  of  Catholic  lay- 
men would  have  led  to  an  outburst  of  bitterness,  and  a 
heedless  remark  on  such  an  occasion  might  have  held  back 
the  progress  of  religious  tolerance  for  years. 

But  now  men  saw  the  Catholic  Church  in  full  and 
free  outline,  where  she  had  seemed  before  to  be  hidden 
to  many.  If  one  asked  if  there  was  danger  to  the  country 
in  that  Church,  non-Catholics  as  well  as  Catholics  them- 
selves were  ready  to  banish  dread  by  pointing  to  Gibbons. 

441 


442  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  Congress  of  Laymen  might  be  held  at  last  in  the 
secure  belief  that  honor  instead  of  antagonism  would 
be  its  portion. 

Gibbons  was  not  without  misgivings  that  a  reckless 
word  at  the  congress  might  sow  trouble.  There  was  no 
precedent  in  America  to  guide  it,  and  great  harm  might 
be  done  by  an  immature  and  unrepresentative  expression 
of  an  individual  opinion  which  would  be  interpreted  as 
representative  by  persons  disposed  to  harass  the  Church. 

He  was  opposed  to  giving  thought  to  the  grievances 
of  the  past  when  there  was  so  much  of  satisfaction  in 
the  present  and  of  promise  in  the  future.  He  never  re- 
membered personal  wrongs  and  he  did  not  wish  the 
Church  or  churchmen  to  remember  wrongs.  Full  and 
free  forgiveness  and  obliteration  of  former  misunder- 
standing in  the  United  States  was  the  basis  of  his  own 
program  and  he  hoped  that  it  would  be  the  basis  of  the 
laymen's  program.  Instead  of  bewailing  what  had  been 
denied  or  what  some  might  think  was  even  then  denied 
in  part,  he  wished  that  the  overshadowing  feeling  might 
be  of  gratitude  for  that  which  was  freely  accorded. 

In  his  far-reaching  studies  of  American  history  he 
had  learned,  as  few  men  learn,  the  discriminations  which 
had  been  practised  against  Catholics.  This  knowledge 
had  steeled  his  arm  in  the  struggle  to  break  down  those 
discriminations.  He  knew  that  no  Americans  had  been 
more  sincerely  loyal  in  forum  and  on  battlefield  in  the 
days  of  the  American  Revolution.  It  was  even  said  then 
that  "every  Catholic  was  a  Whig."  Debarred  before 
that  war  from  holding  even  a  commission  in  the  militia, 
a  number  of  them  rose  speedily  to  high  rank  in  the  army 


CALL  TO  THE  LAITY— HIGHER  EDUCATION   443 

led  by  Washington.  Of  the  members  of  the  Continental 
Congress  a  considerable  number  were  Catholics ;  and  they 
had  helped  to  adopt  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
had  risked  their  lives,  their  fortunes  and  their  sacred 
honor  in  maintaining  America  as  an  independent  nation.^ 

Catholics  had  shared  with  their  Protestant  brethren, 
knowing  no  discrimination  in  public  life,  the  burdens  of 
citizenship  in  the  formative  days  of  the  Republic.  In 
the  War  of  1812  they  had  again  proved  the  mettle  of 
their  patriotism.  Andrew  Jackson,  victorious  over 
Packenham,  had  been  welcomed  to  New  Orleans  by  the 
Catholics  of  that  city,  headed  by  Bishop  Dubourg,  who 
celebrated  in  the  Cathedral  a  solemn  service  of  thanks- 
giving for  the  triumph  of  American  arms.  In  the  "Know 
Nothing"  times  Catholics  had  conducted  themselves  with 
great  moderation  and  thus  had  limited  the  scope  of  that 
outbreak  as  a  disturbance  of  normal  national  life.  In 
the  Civil  War  they  had  divided  in  sympathy  like  their 
brethren  of  other  faiths. 

Gibbons'  affirmative  thoughts  on  the  subject  of  the 
treatment  of  Catholics  in  America  outweighed  his  nega- 
tive thoughts,  for  that  was  his  temperamental  predisposi- 
tion on  all  subjects.  A  start  must  be  made,  he  felt,  in 
joining  the  laity  on  a  national  scale  with  the  Hierarchy 
and  the  clergy  in  the  new  advance  of  the  Church.  As 
a  safeguard  for  the  proceedings  of  the  congress  it  was 
decided  that  the  Bishops  should  appoint  the  delegates  and 
that  the  program  should  be  submitted  to  episcopal  au- 
thority beforehand;  apart  from  this,  freedom  of  expres- 
sion was  preserved. 

*0'Gorman,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States,  p.  257. 


44.4  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

John  Lee  Carroll,  a  former  governor  of  Maryland  and 
a  great  grandson  of  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  pre- 
sided over  the  congress.  The  range  of  discussion  in- 
cluded the  opportunities  of  the  laity,  social  questions, 
secular  and  religious  education,  temperance,  Sunday  ob- 
servance, church  music,  the  Catholic  press  and  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Holy  See. 

In  the  main  the  atmosphere  of  the  congress  was  one 
of  sound  ideas  and  patriotic  spirit.  A  jarring  note  was 
struck,  however,  by  Daniel  Dougherty,  of  Philadelphia, 
in  a  speech  deploring  the  political  discrimination  against 
Catholics  in  the  past,  but  the  sweeping  disapproval  which 
his  address  received  from  the  mass  of  his  associates  in 
the  gathering  showed  more  effectively  than  formal  words 
the  healthy  tone  of  the  congress.  Dougherty's  remarks 
dealt  largely  with  the  colonial  persecutions  of  Catholics, 
but  he  went  so  far  as  to  declare  that  there  was  even  yet 
a  disposition  to  exclude  them  from  public  office.  "The 
highest  honors  of  the  Republic  are  denied  us,"  he  ex* 
claimed,  "by  a  prejudice  which  has  all  the  force  of  a 
constitutional  enactment."  Many  of  the  delegates  held, 
important  offices,  national  or  state,  and  this  in  itself  was 
the  most  effective  answer  to  the  general  viewpoint  which 
Dougherty  expressed.  He,  himself,  had  been  highly 
honored  by  the  Democratic  party  and  had  been  selected 
to  make  the  nominating  speeches  for  Hancock  in  1880 
and  Cleveland  in  1888  in  the  national  conventions  of 
that  party;  surely  there  had  been  no  great  discrimination 
in  his  case.  While  there  had  been  no  Catholic  President 
of  the  United  States,  it  was  also  true  that  American 
political  history  showed  the  rejection  of  no  important 


CALL  TO  THE  LAITY— HIGHER  EDUCATION  445 

aspirant  to  that  ofBce  because  he  was  of  the  Catholic 
faith. 

Dougherty's  depressing  echoes  of  past  conditions  found 
no  counterpart  in  the  other  proceedings  of  the  congress. 
Its  general  spirit  was  one  of  buoyancy  and  confidence. 
Resolutions  which  were  adopted  on  the  closing  day  em- 
braced the  fruit  of  its  deliberations.  They  set  forth 
emphatically  that  there  was  no  conflict  between  the 
Church  and  the  institutions  of  the  country;  denounced 
Socialism  and  Communism,  while  declaring  that  "we 
equally  condemn  the  greed  of  capital" ;  condemned  Mor- 
monism,  the  tendency  to  divorce  and  other  national  evils. 
A  clause  favoring  the  Sunday  closing  of  saloons  was  an 
outgrowth  of  an  agitation  then  current  for  the  general 
adoption  of  a  "Continental  Sunday"  in  America.  The 
congress  advocated  a  school  system  which  included  a 
course  of  religious  training.  It  held  that  the  absolute 
freedom  of  the  Holy  See  was  necessary  for  the  peace 
of  the  Church  and  the  welfare  of  mankind. 

Gibbons  felt  deep  satisfaction  in  the  general  aspect 
of  the  developments  in  the  congress.  He  encouraged  the 
delegates  by  an  address  in  which  he  said  of  the  gathering : 

*Tt  will  form  an  admirable  school  for  enlightening 
and  instructing  the  members  and  preparing  them  for 
holding  a  more  elaborate  convention  at  some  future  day. 
This  congress,  by  the  mere  fact  of  being  called  together, 
emphasizes  and  vindicates  the  important  truth  that  it  is 
the  privilege  as  well  as  the  duty  of  our  laity  to  co-operate 
with  the  clergy  in  discussing  those  great  economic,  edu- 
cational and  social  questions  which  affect  the  interests 
and  well-being  of  the  Church,  the  country  and  society  at 
large. 


446  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"I  confess  that  the  desire  of  my  heart  for  a  long  time 
has  been  to  see  the  clergy  and  the  laity  drawn  more 
closely  together.  They  have,  perhaps,  in  some  respects 
been  much  and  too  long  apart;  for,  if  the  clergy  are  the 
divinely  constituted  channels  for  instructing  the  laity  in 
faith  and  morals,  the  clergy,  on  their  part,  have  much  to 
learn  from  the  wisdom  and  discretion,  the  experience  and 
worldly  sense  of  the  laity. 

"And  in  no  other  country  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
should  the  clergy  and  the  laity  be  more  united  than  in 
our  own.  The  laity  build  our  churches;  they  erect  our 
schools;  they  voluntarily  and  generously  support  our 
clergy;  the  salaries  of  our  clergy  are  not  ceremoniously 
handed  to  them  by  Government  officials  on  a  silver  salver, 
but  come  from  the  warm  hands  and  warm  hearts  of  the 
people." 

A  short  and  vigorous  address  by  Archbishop  Ireland 
also  inspired  the  delegates. 

A  torchlight  parade  in  which  thirty  thousand  persons 
joined  marked  the  close  of  the  congress.  It  took  the  form 
chiefly  of  a  tribute  to  Gibbons,  who  reviewed  it  from 
the  bay  window  of  his  residence,  the  background  from 
which  so  many  crowds  saw  him  during  the  years  of 
his  Cardinalate.  As  the  long  line  wound  along  pictur- 
esque Charles  Street,  the  greatest  moment  for  all  who 
took  part  in  it  came  when  he  imparted  recognition  and 
approval  to  each  organization  in  turn. 

The  child  of  Gibbons'  age — thus  he  called  the  Catholic 
University — was  born  on  the  fourth  day  of  the  celebra- 
tion, when  the  University  was  opened  with  the  dedication 
of  the  School  of  Sacred  Sciences.  It  had  been  only  a 
nebulous  hope  at  the  Second  Plenary  Council  of  Balti- 


CALL  TO  THE  LAITY— HIGHER  EDUCATION  447 

more,  but  had  taken  on  reality  at  the  Third  Council, 
where  the  prelates,  heartened  by  Bishop  Spalding's  zeal 
and  Miss  Mary  Gwendoline  Caldwell's  gift  of  $300,000, 
had  authorized  it  as  a  practical  undertaking.  Now,  with 
the  Pope's  blessing  and  with  the  prayers  of  the  Church, 
the  University  was  ready  to  begin  its  mission  of  instruc- 
tion. Miss  Caldwell's  gift  had  been  increased  by  $50,000 
contributed  by  her  sister,  Lina;  and  through  the  tireless 
efforts  of  Bishop  Keane  and  others  the  amount  had  been 
gradually  swelled  to  $800,000. 

Bishop  Keane  became  the  first  rector  and  in  coopera- 
tion with  Gibbons  gave  form  and  substance  to  the  picture 
which  he  had  drawn  before  tens  of  thousands  throughout 
the  country  to  whom  he  had  appealed  for  the  means  that 
were  essential  to  giving  the  undertaking  a  physical  be- 
ginning. He  was  the  ideal  advocate  of  a  noble  cause — 
saintly  in  life,  singularly  winning  in  personality,  fervent 
in  appeal.  Swept  by  zeal  for  the  University  as  by  a 
torrent  within  him,  he  carried  conviction  to  those  who 
heard  his  pleas.  The  fruit  of  his  labors  bore  testimony 
to  their  effectiveness  in  a  period  when  the  raising  of  funds 
for  universities  was  far  more  difficult  in  America  than  it 
came  to  be  afterward. 

There  had  been  much  discussion  as  to  the  site  for  the 
capstone  of  the  structure  of  Catholic  education  in  Amer- 
ica. At  length  there  was  general  agreement  upon  Wash- 
ington as  the  center  of  national  effort  in  behalf  of  the 
enlightenment  of  the  nation.  It  was  there  that  Carroll 
had  made  his  own  beginnings  of  a  system  of  higher  edu- 
cation when  he  founded  what  has  since  become  known  as 


448  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Georgetown  University,  the  first  Catholic  collegiate  in- 
stitution in  the  United  States.^  Carroll  would  have  been 
its  first  president  had  he  not  been  raised  to  the  episcopate 
in  1789,  the  same  year  in  which  he  founded  the  institu- 
tion. He  could  not  then  know  that  the  national  capital 
was  to  be  established  so  that  its  municipal  bounds  would 
embrace  the  college  of  which  he  was  the  mainspring.  In 
this,  as  in  many  other  things,  he  "builded  better  than 
he  knew." 

The  planting  of  the  seed  by  Carroll  was  not  forgotten 
in  the  centenary  year.  A  prelude  to  the  main  celebration 
was  the  observance  on  February  20,  21  and  22,  1889,  of 
the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  Carroll's  academy.  The 
two  most  conspicuous  men  present  were  Cardinal  Gibbons 
and  President  Cleveland  who,  following  the  example  of 
nearly  all  his  precedessors  from  Washington  down, 
visited  that  widely  known  Jesuit  institution. 

The  cornerstone  of  the  School  of  Sacred  Sciences  for 
the  new  and  greater  university  had  been  laid  May  24, 
1888,  in  the  presence  of  President  Cleveland,  members 
of  his  Cabinet,  Cardinal  Gibbons  and  other  distinguished 
men.  Early  the  next  year  the  Pope  addressed  a  brief 
to  the  American  Bishops,  decreeing  that  "as  the  See  of 
Baltimore  is  the  chief  among  the  Apostolic  Sees  of  the 
United  States  of  North  America,  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Baltimore  and  to  his  successors  we  grant  the  privilege  of 
discharging  the  office  of  supreme  moderator  or  chancellor 
of  the  university." 

The  massed  episcopate  was  shifted  from  Baltimore  to 
Washington  for  the  dedication  October  13,  1889,  giving 

*Gui!day,  The  Life  and  Times  of  John  Carroll,  p.  447  et  seq. 


CALL  TO  THE  LAITY— HIGHER  EDUCATION  449 

full  honor  to  the  ceremony  which  marked  the  accomplish- 
ment of  an  aim  so  dear  to  the  Church.  Archbishop 
Satolli  celebrated  Mass  and  Bishop  Gilmour,  of  Cleve- 
land, preached.  He  pointed  out  the  fitness  of  beginning 
the  University's  instruction  with  the  divinity  course,  for, 
from  the  Catholic  point  of  view  "all  true  education  must 
begin  in  God  and  find  its  truth  and  direction  in  God." 
The  Bishop  vigorously  proclaimed  the  mutual  help  and 
dependence  of  the  civil  body  and  the  forces  of  religion, 
saying : 

"There  is  a  widespread  mistake,  a  rapidly  growing 
political  and  social  heresy,  which  assumes  and  asserts 
that  the  State  is  all  temporal  and  religion  all  spiritual. 
This  is  not  only  a  doctrinal  heresy;  but,  if  acted  upon, 
would  ruin  both  spiritual  and  temporal.  No  more  can 
the  State  exist  without  religion  than  the  body  without 
the  soul ;  and  no  more  can  religion  exist  without  the  State, 
and  on  earth  carry  on  its  work,  than  can  the  soul  on 
earth,  without  the  body,  do  its  work. 

"The  State,  it  is  true,  is  for  the  temporal,  but  has  its 
substantial  strength  in  the  spiritual;  while  religion,  it 
is  true,  is  for  the  spiritual,  but  in  much  must  find  its 
working  strength  in  the  temporal.  In  this  sense  it  is 
a  mistake  to  assume  that  religion  is  independent  of  the 
State,  or  the  State  independent  of  religion.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  religion  must  depend  upon  the  State  in  tem- 
poralities; and,  vice  versa,  the  State  must  depend  upon 
religion  in  morals ;  and  both  should  so  act  that  their  con- 
joint work  will  be  for  the  temporal  and  moral  welfare 
of  society." 

This  did  not  mean,  the  Bishop  proceeded  to  show,  that 
any   form  of  direct   or  legalized  partnership  between 


450  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Church  and  State  was  necessary  or  even  desirable.     He 
said : 

"In  this  country  we  have  agreed  that  religion  and  the 
State  shall  exist  as  distinct  and  separate  departments, 
each  with  its  separate  rights  and  duties;  but  this  does 
not  mean  that  the  State  is  independent  of  religion  or 
religion  independent  of  the  State." 

Bishop  Gilmour  found  particular  cause  for  satisfac- 
tion in  the  fact  that  the  University  had  been  "begun 
without  State  or  princely  aid,  but  originating  in  an  out- 
pouring of  public  thought  and  founded  and  provided 
for  by  the  gifts  of  the  many  rather  than  by  the  offerings 
of  the  few."  He  pointed  to  this  as  evidence  of  "the 
widening  character  of  American  ideas  and  the  existing 
conviction  of  the  public  mind  that  higher  studies  are 
clearly  needed." 

President  Harrison,  Vice-President  Morton  and  nearly 
all  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  lent  their  presence  to  a 
banquet  in  one  of  the  halls  of  the  University  which  was 
held  as  a  mark  of  the  joy  which  the  occasion  inspired. 
A  cablegram  from  Leo  XIII  conveying  his  blessing  and 
sending  congratulations  was  read;  and  Archbishop 
Satolli's  Latin  eloquence  flowed  again  in  periods  that 
reflected  the  majesty  of  the  language  as  few  men  in 
modern  times  have  been  capable  of  reflecting  it.  "God 
loves  America,"  he  said.  "It  is  Leo's  feeling  that  this 
is  true;  and  he  believes  therefore  that  in  America  nothing 
is  impossible." 

Cardinal  Taschereau,  speaking  for  Canada,  contrasted 
the  unfettered  progress  of  the  Church  in  the  United 


CALL  TO  THE  LAITY— HIGHER  EDUCATION  451 

States  with  the  obstacles  which  impeded  it  abroad  be- 
cause of  the  "intense  opposition  of  the  potentates  of 
Europe."     He  said: 

"In  the  United  States  there  is  full  freedom ;  and  there 
is  great  comfort  in  the  universal  confidence  placed  in 
Cardinal  Gibbons  as  the  glorious  representative  of  the 
Church  in  America.  The  Pope  has  always  had  un- 
bounded faith  in  him." 

President  Harrison  received,  as  the  head  of  the  nation, 
the  acclaim  of  the  gathering,  which  he  acknowledged  in  a 
few  words.  Secretary  of  State  Blaine  spoke  at  some 
length,  saying: 

"I  have  come  to  the  banquet,  like  my  colleagues,  to 
represent  the  United  States  not  in  a  political  sense,  much 
less  a  partisan  one,  and  not  in  a  sense  in  any  way  in 
conflict  with  any  church  or  sect  or  principle  of  religion. 
Freedom  of  religion  is  guaranteed  in  the  United  States, 
and  this  is  one  of  our  greatest  blessings.  I  have  spoken 
thus  often  in  Protestant  assemblages,  and  it  gives  me 
pleasure  to  repeat  it  to  a  Catholic  audience.  .  .  .  Every 
college  in  the  United  States  increases  the  culture  of  the 
United  States.  We  have  the  criticism  of  an  English 
professor,  who  admired  America  as  the  most  intelligent 
land  in  the  world  and  the  least  cultivated.  Universities 
will,  in  time,  give  us  a  greater  excellence  in  learning." 

When  Gibbons  arose  to  speak  all  eyes  turned  to  him 
as  the  center  from  which  the  inspiration  of  the  great 
undertaking  flowed.  As  he  was  accustomed  to  do  on 
numerous  occasions  when  he  spoke  in  the  presence  of 
Presidents,  he  dwelt  upon  the  value  of  religion  as  a 
stabilizing  force  in  civil  life,  for  that  in  substance  was 


452  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

one  of  the  mainsprings  of  the  great  efforts  which  had  led 
to  the  founding  of  the  University.     He  said : 

"We  have  all  been  more  than  anxious  for  the  visit  of 
the  President,  the  Vice-President  and  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  who  have  honored  the  University  by  their  pres- 
ence. They  assure  us  of  their  sympathy  for  every  cause 
to  promote  the  religion  and  morality  of  the  people  in 
the  United  States.  Though  there  is  no  union  of  Church 
and  State,  in  any  sense,  the  people  have  always  upheld 
religion.  ...  In  olden  times  the  Church  admonished 
obedience  to  rulers  when  they  were  even  obnoxious.  How 
much  more  can  she  do  so  now,  when  salutary  laws  are 
made  to  foster  the  home  and  better  society*?  A  govern- 
ment is  pleasing  to  God  when  it  is  in  harmony,  and  how 
good  it  is  when  both  clergymen  and  laymen,  working  in 
an  individual  capacity,  bring  about  harmony." 

Vicomte  de  Montalembert  conveyed  the  felicitations 
of  the  universities  of  Paris  and  Lyons  on  the  happy  oc- 
casion. There  were  many  other  discourses.  After  the 
banquet  the  University  course  was  formally  opened  by 
an  oration  in  English  by  Bishop  O'Farrell,  of  Trenton, 
and  an  address  in  Latin  by  Mgr.  Schroeder,  the  new  pro- 
fessor of  dogmatic  theology.  All  felt  that,  under  the 
impetus  which  had  been  given,  the  University  would 
take  in  time  a  place  worthy  of  the  Church  and  worthy 
of  America.  None  could  foresee  the  marvelously  rapid 
growth  for  it  which  was  to  be  unfolded  in  the  passage  of 
the  next  two  decades. 

Gibbons  wished  the  city  of  Baltimore  to  be  identified 
with  the  welcome  to  the  prelates  and  the  fifth  and  clos- 
ing day  of  the  celebration  was  marked  by  a  reception  to 
them  at  the  City  Hall,  given  by  Mayor  Latrobe,  his  close 


CALL  TO  THE  LAITY— HIGHER  EDUCATION  453 

friend  and  colaborer  in  public  affairs  during  many  terms 
of  municipal  office.  Bishops  and  visiting  laymen  alike 
were  welcome  guests  on  that  occasion.  Men  eminent  in 
the  Church  obtained  a  close  view  of  an  aspect  of  Gib- 
bons' life  which  inspired  not  a  few  of  them  with  thoughts 
of  what  they  also  might  do.  These  men,  shut  off  in 
many  cases  from  direct  contact  with  the  world  in  their 
absorption  in  ecclesiastical  life,  were  amazed  to  see  the 
Cardinal  apparently  on  terms  of  familiar  acquaintance 
with  nearly  everybody  present,  from  the  Mayor  down  to 
little  children  who  came  with  their  parents.  Their  sur- 
prise was  almost  as  great  to  behold  that  the  crowd  with 
singular  unanimity  looked  upon  him  as  the  foremost  citi- 
zen of  the  community  as  well  as  the  foremost  churchman, 
and  appeared  to  take  this  view  as  if  by  the  force  of  long 
habit.  Here  was  a  sermon  in  some  respects  more  power- 
ful than  any  to  which  they  had  listened  in  the  course 
of  the  week.  If  an  Archbishop  were  in  the  community, 
of  the  community  and  a  leader  of  the  community,  what 
need  to  fear  a  lack  of  common  purpose? 

The  prelates  from  abroad  found  a  lesson  in  this  which 
struck  them  with  singular  force.  The  formality,  the 
diplomatic  restraint  between  churchmen  and  public  men 
in  Europe  could  be  lost  in  the  fusing  of  American  life, 
and  Gibbons  showed  both  the  method  and  the  accom- 
plishment. Delicate  forms  of  ceremony,  designed  per- 
haps as  much  to  uphold  prerogative  as  to  promote 
cordiality,  were  notably  lacking  in  his  relations  with  the 
numerous  officers  of  civil  government  with  whom  he  was 
on  familiar  terms.  Neither  he  nor  they  had  favors  to 
ask  but  both  felt  the  urge  of  a  common  aim.    They  met 


454  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

on  terms  of  simple  friendship  greater  in  its  potency  than 
documents  stamped  with  official  seals  or  precedent 
brought  down  from  medieval  days. 

The  new  century  was  begun  and  there  was  a  new  spirit 
in  it.  The  Church,  marshaling  her  laity  as  well  as  her 
Bishops,  had  set  her  face  against  Socialism  and  the  other 
transplanted  political  organisms  which  had  threatened 
to  grow  in  the  virgin  soil  of  America ;  had  entered  a  mili- 
tant conflict  against  divorce  and  other  social  evils;  had 
spoken  with  mighty  voice  for  the  welfare  of  religion  and 
the  State,  each  independent  of  the  other  and  each  helping 
the  other.  The  champions  who  now  went  forth  to  begin 
aggressively  the  work  of  a  new  century  of  Catholic  effort 
carried  new  vigor  and  new  hope  into  pulpit  and  pew. 

As  the  Congress  of  Laymen  met,  Our  Christian 
Heritage,  Gibbons'  second  book,  appeared  in  print.  The 
delegates  found  a  guide  for  their  own  thoughts  and  labors 
both  in  the  Cardinal's  vigorous  defense  of  Christianity 
and  in  his  declarations  on  current  evils. 

There  was  a  local  sequel  of  the  celebration,  and  it 
shaped  an  act  of  legislation.  Gibbons  thus  participated 
for  the  first  time  in  direct  influence  of  that  kind,  but,  as 
always,  he  was  careful  to  observe  the  proprieties,  and 
his  course  met  the  approval  of  the  leading  people  of  the 
State,  regardless  of  creed.  A  multiplication  of  small 
liquor  saloons  operated  under  cheap  licenses  was  then  a 
generally  recognized  evil,  and  in  Maryland,  as  in  other 
States,  an  agitation  to  limit  the  number  of  drinking  places 
by  the  enactment  of  a  high  license  law  sprang  up.  This 
movement,  although  it  enlisted  the  religious  forces  of 
the   community,    made    slow    progress    because    of   the 


CALL  TO  THE  LAITY— HIGHER  EDUCATION  465 

strength  and  resources  of  the  interests  which  sought  the 
unhampered  continuance  of  the  saloon. 

The  time  was  opportune  for  a  stroke  that  would  end 
the  impasse.  Archbishop  Ireland's  temperance  crusade 
was  then  nearing  the  peak  of  its  vigor,  and  his  ardor 
was  aroused  by  the  situation  in  Maryland.  The  zeal 
of  the  Rev.  James  Nugent,  of  Liverpool,  called  "The 
Father  Mathew  of  England"  on  account  of  his  long  labors 
in  the  cause  of  temperance  in  his  own  country,  who  was 
a  visitor  to  the  Centennial  exercises,  was  also  drawn  upon. 
With  the  approval  of  Gibbons,  a  mass  meeting  in  behalf 
of  temperance  was  held  in  the  Baltimore  Academy  of 
Music  on  the  Sunday  following  the  celebration.  Some 
of  the  most  prominent  laymen  in  Maryland,  non-Cath- 
olic as  well  as  Catholic,  gave  the  encouragement  of  their 
presence  to  the  meeting,  which  was  arranged  by  the  Car- 
dinal's secretary  at  that  time,  the  Rev.  John  T.  Whelan, 
whose  powers  were  enlisted  to  the  utmost  in  the  effort  to 
strike  a  telling  blow  for  temperance. 

Gibbons,  in  a  vigorous  speech,  expressed  the  particular 
reason  which  had  appealed  to  him  in  assisting  the  move- 
ment. 

"The  blow  we  strike  to-night,"  he  said,  "is  for  the 
benefit  of  the  laborer,  and  as  such  it  must  and  shall  be 
successful." 

The  legislature  which  met  soon  afterward  enacted  the 
high  license  law,  which  would  have  been  impossible  with- 
out the  influence  of  the  mass  meeting  in  marshaling  public 
opinion  in  an  irresistible  phalanx. 

The  Cardinal  was  not  so  radical  as  the  Archbishop  of 
St.  Paul  in  his  views  on  the  liquor  question,  then  or  at 


456  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

any  future  time,  but  he  was  thoroughly  committed  to 
warfare  for  a  reduction  of  the  evils  arising  from  drink. 
He  was  a  moderate  user  of  light  wines  at  dinner,  in  which 
he  found  partial  relief  from  the  pangs  of  chronic  indiges- 
tion. Had  he  believed  the  enforcement  of  prohibition 
to  be  practicable,  he  would  have  been  the  first  to  ex- 
emplify total  abstinence;  but,  in  his  view,  a  statute 
aimed  at  abolishing  the  use  of  liquor  would  be  but  a 
vain  performance.  It  would  lead,  he  believed,  to  whole- 
sale violations  of  the  law,  and  therefore  to  a  growing 
disrespect  for  the  law.  Example  and  judicious  restric- 
tion, it  seemed  to  him,  were  the  best  means  of  contending 
with  the  situation. 

He  condemned  violent  and  spectacular  methods  in 
the  solution  of  the  liquor  question  as  tending  to  upset 
the  equilibrium  of  public  judgment  on  a  subject  of  vital 
concern.  When  Mrs.  Carrie  Nation,  of  Kansas,  began 
a  campaign  of  open  destruction  of  saloon  property  with- 
out authority  of  law,  which  attracted  a  considerable 
degree  of  national  attention  because  of  its  novelty,  he 
remarked : 

"Nothing  in  my  opinion  can  warrant  Mrs.  Nation  and 
her  followers  in  taking  the  law  in  their  own  hands  and 
wrecking  the  property  of  saloon  keepers." 

His  consistent  deprecation  of  the  rigid  restriction  of 
personal  habits  by  law  was  based  upon  his  judgment  of 
human  nature.  He  was  always  inclined  to  allow  for 
the  rebound  in  such  cases,  and  methods  that  appeared  to 
him  to  be  merely  theoretical  or  idealistic,  without  being 
capable  of  bearing  fruit  in  reality,  never  appealed  to 


CALL  TO  THE  LAITY— HIGHER  EDUCATION  457 

him.  Radical  social  legislation  seemed  to  him  to  be  in- 
consistent with  the  basis  of  government  in  America.  He 
believed  that  the  government  ought  not  to  attempt  to 
do  too  many  things,  for  therein  lay  the  danger  of  failing 
in  some  of  its  essential  functions. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
THE  COMING  OF  THE  PAPAL  DELEGATE 

The  Pentecostal  wave  of  accessions  to  the  Church 
which  had  set  in  during  the  early  years  of  Gibbons  in 
the  Cardinalate  was  marked  by  an  active  renewal  of  the 
proposal  in  Rome  to  appoint  an  Apostolic  Delegate  to 
reside  permanently  in  the  United  States,  in  order  that 
the  numerous  and  often  perplexing  problems  to  which 
the  increase  gave  rise  might  receive  the  fullest  attention. 
To  this  step  Gibbons  had  been  opposed  ever  since  his 
position  in  the  Church  had  been  sufficiently  important  to 
warrant  Rome  in  consulting  him  on  the  subject.  His 
attitude  caused  the  plan  to  be  delayed  and  finally  modi- 
fied, but  he  lived  to  admit  that  the  manner  in  which  the 
office  was  established  and  conducted  by  succeeding  in- 
cumbents avoided  the  dangers  which  had  once  stirred  his 
apprehensions. 

The  question  had  long  been  considered  in  Rome  and 
was  naturally  of  interest  to  Leo  XIII,  who  had  distin- 
guished himself  as  nuncio  at  Brussels.  In  1885  the  opin- 
ions of  all  the  American  Archbishops  were  sought  by  the 
Vatican  on  the  advisability  of  establishing  more  direct 
relations  between  it  and  the  government  at  Washington. 
The  journal  of  Gibbons,  who  had  not  then  been  elevated 
to  the  Cardinalate,  contains  the  following  entries  for 
that  year : 

458 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  PAPAL  DELEGATE  459 

*'Dec.  lo.  Received  from  Cardinal  Simeoni  an  auto- 
graph letter  in  which  his  Eminence  asked  my  opinion 
about  the  expediency  of  the  Holy  See  entering  into  diplo- 
matic relations  with  our  government. 

"Dec.  29.  I  answered  Cardinal  Simeoni's  letter  re- 
ceived on  the  10th  inst.,  in  which  I  deprecated  any  com- 
munication from  the  Holy  Father  to  the  President  such 
as  his  Eminence  thought  might  be  advisable.  I  gave 
many  reasons  why  such  a  letter  would  be  very  imprudent 
and  might  compromise  the  Holy  Father  as  well  as  the 
Catholics  of  America.  The  only  circumstance  in  which 
such  a  letter  might  be  written  would  be  one  of  sympathy 
or  congratulation  on  the  occasion  of  a  public  calamity 
or  a  signal  blessing  to  our  country." 

All  the  other  Archbishops  except  Ireland,  in  their  re- 
plies to  Rome,  expressed  the  view  that  the  proposed  step 
would  be  inadvisable.  Ireland  was  distinctly  in  favor 
of  it. 

The  plan  was  revived  in  the  winter  of  1886-87  when 
Gibbons  went  to  Rome  to  receive  the  red  hat  and  laid 
the  foundations  for  the  policies  which  he  was  to  carry 
out.  He  again  showed  opposition  to  it,  and  once  more 
the  matter  was  laid  aside,  as  the  following  extract  from 
a  letter  written  by  him  to  Archbishop  Elder  in  the  fol- 
lowing Spring  shows : 

"I  hope  that  the  question  of  the  nuncio  is  buried  out 
of  sight  for  some  time,  at  least ;  I  trust  indefinitely.  Still 
we  must  be  always  on  the  alert."  ^ 

Two  years  later,  when  a  dispute  arose  in  the  arch- 
diocese of  Cincinnati,  he  expressed  impatience  that  priests 

*  Letter  of  Cardinal  Gibbons  to  Archbishop  Elder,  written  from  Flor- 
ence, April  20,   1887. 


460  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

should  continue  to  besiege  Rome  with  their  appeals  m- 
stead  of  submitting  to  the  decisions  of  their  ecclesiastical 
superiors  in  America.    He  wrote  to  Archbishop  Elder : 

"Baltimore,  March  21,  1889. 
"Most  Rev.  dear  Friend: 

"The  numerous  complaints  sent  to  Rome  by  priests 
who  have  real  or  fancied  wrongs  are  much  to  be  deplored. 
I  think  that  their  number  would  be  diminished  if  the 
influence  of  Metropolitans  were  invoked  and  exercised 
in  the  early  stages  of  the  difficulties  in  effecting  a  settle- 
ment. 

"I  fear  very  much  that  the  Holy  See  may  use  these 
appeals  as  a  pretext  for  sending  us  a  permanent  legate 
or  delegate  who  would  soon  become  the  center  of  intrigues 
and  that  the  dignity  and  authority  of  the  ordinaries 
would  be  seriously  impaired. 

"With  regard  to ,  I  do  not  think  there  is  any 

danger  of  the  Propaganda  examining  and  deciding  this 
case  over  your  head.  I  hope,  and  believe,  if  any  notice 
is  taken  of  his  case,  that  it  will  be  through  your  Grace 
as  Metropolitan.  Any  other  course  would  be  at  vari- 
ance with  the  promises  repeatedly  made  to  us  at  Rome, 
that  the  Holy  See  would  not  consider  any  appeal  till  it 
had  been  considered  by  the  Metropolitan. 

"Yours  in  Christ, 

"J.  Card.  Gibbons." 

Cardinal  Gibbons'  reasons  for  doubting  the  wisdom 
of  appointing  an  Apostolic  Delegate  were  based  upon  his 
well-known  views  of  the  respective  functions  of  Church 
and  State.  It  had  been  so  long  one  of  his  favorite  themes 
that  the  Church  prospers  most  when  divorced  from  po- 
litical entanglements,  that  he  conceived  that  the  result 
pf  the  experiment,  in  the  form  in  which  he  then  expected 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  PAPAL  DELEGATE  461 

it  to  be  undertaken,  would  be  at  least  doubtful.  Misin- 
terpretation, he  thought,  would  be  apt  to  arise ;  it  might 
be  held  in  some  quarters  that  the  appointment  of  an 
Apostolic  Delegate,  though  his  functions  might  be  con- 
fined to  the  adjustment  of  purely  ecclesiastical  questions, 
would  be  an  entering  wedge  for  the  opening  of  full  diplo- 
matic relations  between  the  Vatican  and  the  White 
House. 

He  believed  that  this  last  was  impossible  in  his  time, 
and  not  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  American  institutions. 
To  his  mind  it  would  not  help  the  Church,  and  he  saw 
no  validity  in  the  argument  that  it  was  justified  by  great 
need.  The  Church  had  no  difficulty  with  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States.  Successive  administrations  in 
Washington  had  not  only  not  been  repressive,  but  had 
shown  no  disposition  to  interfere  with  Catholic  interests 
in  any  place  over  which  the  American  flag  floated. 
Ecclesiastical  authorities  were  generally  sustained  in  their 
local  property  rights  before  the  courts,  whose  custom  it 
was  in  all  cases  involving  procedure  within  the  Catholic 
Church  to  adjust  their  decisions  to  the  processes  of 
ecclesiastical  law  and  the  Church  organization.  In  the 
appointment  of  chaplains  in  the  army  and  navy  there 
was  no  discrimination,  nor  indeed  was  there  any  in  the 
miscellaneous  operations  of  the  government. 

In  the  few  transactions  which  had  required  communi- 
cation between  the  Vatican  and  the  White  House,  the 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore  had  appeared  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  Pope.  General  questions  involving  the  rela- 
tions between  dioceses  or  Papal  investigations  of  diffi- 
culties, financial  or  otherwise,  which  sometimes  developed 


462  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

in  the  jurisdictions  of  other  Archbishops,  had  been  cus- 
tomarily attended  to  by  the  same  prelate,  who  received 
from  Rome  his  authority  to  intervene  and  forwarded  to 
Rome  his  reports  of  recommendations  and  action. 

While  this  involved  a  considerable  personal  burden, 
the  weight  of  which  Gibbons  had  felt  more  than  any  of 
his  predecessors  because  of  the  numerous  missions  given 
to  him  as  the  result  of  Leo's  confidence  in  his  judgment 
and  discretion,  he  had  no  disposition  to  escape  it  and 
was  willing  to  bequeath  it  to  his  successors.  The  na- 
tional capital  is  within  the  See  of  Baltimore  and  inter- 
changes with  the  national  government  by  the  head  of 
that  See  were  therefore  convenient  and  suitable  from 
every  point  of  view. 

Nevertheless,  there  was  a  demand  among  some  Ameri- 
can Bishops  and  priests  that  a  method  should  be  pro- 
vided for  a  more  prompt  determination  of  ecclesiastical 
questions  arising  in  this  country.  The  United  States  was 
then  still  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Propaganda,  al- 
ready overcrowded  with  the  tremendous  undertaking  of 
managing  Catholic  mission  movements  throughout  the 
world,  and  the  questions  which  a  Papal  representative 
might  appropriately  solve  in  America  were  multiplying. 

One  of  these  which  was  becoming  acute  was  the  school 
question,  involving  experiments  in  the  direction  of  co- 
ordinating parochial  schools  with  the  public  school  sys- 
tems in  various  States.  More  than  all  else  was  a  multi- 
tude of  problems  arising  from  the  so-called  question  of 
Americanism — the  nationalization  of  the  diverse  for- 
eign elements  introduced  by  immigration  into  the  Church 
here.     Opinion  was  dividing  upon  these  things  with  in- 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  PAPAL  DELEGATE  463 

creasing  definiteness  of  demarcation.  The  surge  of 
Catholic  growth  swept  upon  the  shore  the  driftwood  of 
many  perplexing  issues. 

Not  only  was  the  Church  able  to  retain  within  her 
fold  a  host  of  the  immigrants  who  were  arriving  from 
Catholic  countries  in  Europe,  but  conversions  were  numer- 
ous and  dioceses  were  springing  up  on  every  hand.  To 
be  a  Catholic  was  no  longer  to  be  an  object  of  suspicion 
in  an  ultra-Protestant  neighborhood.  Protestants  were 
inclined  to  welcome  a  Catholic  church  in  their  vicinity 
in  the  same  spirit  in  which  they  would  welcome  one  of 
a  non-Catholic  denomination.  A  militant  evangelism 
was  building  new  churches  where  the  Mass  might  be 
celebrated  in  the  regions  to  which  the  new  population 
was  flocking.  With  the  increased  wealth  of  the  country, 
it  was  easier  to  build  churches,  parish  halls  and  schools, 
and  to  support  the  clergy  and  the  religious  orders  in  their 
ministrations.  It  was  amazing  how  the  old  lines  of  re- 
ligious prejudice  were  melting.  Catholic  and  Protestant 
pastors  worked  together  in  movements  for  the  moral  and 
social  betterment  of  the  communities  to  which  they 
ministered. 

Archbishop  Satolli  had  fascinated  Leo  on  his  return 
from  the  centenary  celebration  in  Baltimore  with  glow- 
ing accounts  of  what  he  had  seen  in  America.  The 
strength  and  freedom  of  the  Church  here  had  made  a 
powerful  impression  upon  his  receptive  mind.  In  Wash- 
ington he  had  been  cordially  received  by  President  Harri- 
son; and  he  had  become  cognizant  no  less  of  the  vast 
possibilities  for  the  advancement  of  the  Church  here  than 
of  the  material  resources  of  the  nation. 


464  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

A  situation  which  arose  in  connection  with  prepara- 
tions for  the  World's  Fair,  held  at  Chicago  in  1893  to 
mark  the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of 
America,  gave  the  Pope  an  opportunity  to  make  a  test 
of  the  outlook  for  the  appointment  of  a  permanent  Apos- 
tolic Delegate.     Gibbons  wrote  in  his  journal: 

"Sept.  15  [1892].  At  the  request  of  the  Secretary 
of  State,  Mr.  Foster,  I  conferred  with  him  regarding  a 
letter  to  be  addressed  to  the  Pope,  through  Secretary 
of  State  Cardinal  Rampolla,  asking  the  Holy  Father 
for  the  loan  of  certain  maps,  etc.,  having  reference  to  the 
discovery  of  America,  and  thanking  him  for  his  interest 
in  the  Columbian  Exposition,  where  they  will  be  ex- 
hibited. The  Secretary  of  State  gave  me  a  warai  letter 
which  I  am  forwarding  to  Cardinal  Rampolla." 

Mr.  Foster's  letter  began  with  a  request  for  the  loan 
of  the  relics,  of  which  a  considerable  collection  was  de- 
sired for  the  approaching  commemoration.     He  wrote: 

'T  need  not  assure  you  that  the  greatest  care  will  be 
taken  of  them  from  the  moment  of  their  delivery  into 
the  hands  of  the  agent  of  this  Government  who  may  be 
authorized  to  receive  them;  or,  should  his  Holiness  see 
fit  to  entrust  them  in  the  care  of  a  personal  representative 
who  will  bring  them  to  the  United  States,  I  am  au- 
thorized by  the  President  to  assure  his  Holiness  that  such 
representative  shall  receive  all  possible  courtesy  upon  his 
arrival  and  during  his  sojourn  in  this  country. 

"The  intimate  association  of  the  Holy  See  with  the 
Columbian  enterprise  and  its  results  has  so  linked  the 
memory  of  Rome  and  her  Pontiffs  with  the  vast  achieve- 
ment of  Columbus  and  his  competitors  in  the  work  of 
discovery  and  colonization,  that  an  exhibit  such  as  by 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  PAPAL  DELEGATE  465 

the  President's  direction  I  have  the  honor  to  suggest 
could  not  fail  to  be  among  the  most  noteworthy  contribu- 
tions to  this  international  celebration.  By  co-operating 
to  this  end,  his  Holiness  will  manifest  for  our  country  a 
regard  which  will  be  highly  appreciated,  not  only  by  the 
managers  of  the  exposition,  but  by  the  American  people 
at  large. 

"His  Eminence  Cardinal  Gibbons,  with  whom  I  have 
conferred  on  the  subject,  has  very  kindly  agreed  to  con- 
vey this  letter  to  your  Eminence."  ^ 

Rampolla  replied  by  acceding  fully  to  Secretary 
Foster's  wishes  and  announcing  the  appointment  of 
Satolli  as  the  personal  representative  of  the  Pontiff  at 
the  Columbian  exercises.     He  wrote: 

"His  Holiness  has  learned  how  great  was  the  gratifica- 
tion felt  by  the  President  of  the  great  Republic  at  the 
prospect  of  receiving  the  Columbus  records,  which  will 
be  sent  by  the  Holy  See  to  the  exposition  which  is  to 
be  held  next  year  at  Chicago  in  honor  of  the  immortal 
discoverer  of  America.  The  august  Pontiff  felt  certain 
that  the  United  States  Government  would  spare  no 
pains  to  preserve  the  various  objects  that  are  to  be  in- 
trusted to  it  from  any  mishap,  and  he  returns  his  thanks 
for  the  kind  offer  that  has  been  made  for  their  trans- 
portation. 

"In  the  meantime  his  Holiness,  who  has  so  many  rea- 
sons to  entertain  special  regard  for  the  United  States 
Government  on  account  of  the  liberty  which  is  enjoyed 
in  those  States  by  the  Catholic  Church,  and  who  justly 
admires  the  enterprise  and  progress  of  that  country,  has 
decided  to  be  represented  at  the  public  demonstrations 
which  are  to  be  held  there  in  honor  of  the  Genoese  hero 
on  the  fourth  centenary  of  his  memorable  discovery,  by 

"Letter  of  Secretary  Foster  to  Cardinal  Rampolla,  September  i8,  1892. 


466  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

a  person  who  is  no  less  distinguished  by  his  personal 
qualities  than  by  his  grade  in  the  ecclesiastical  Hierarchy. 
This  person  is  Mgr.  Francesco  Satolli,  Archbishop  of 
Lepanto,  a  prelate  who  is  as  highly  to  be  esteemed  on, 
account  of  his  virtues  as  for  his  profound  scholarship, 
of  which  he  has  given  many  evidences  in  his  writings. 

"His  Holiness  does  not  doubt  that  this  decision  of  his 
will  be  received  with  pleasure  by  the  Government,  and 
feels  sure  that  your  Excellency  will  welcome  the  prelate 
with  your  accustomed  courtesy."  ^ 

Leo  now  resolved  to  appoint  Satolli  as  temporary  Apos- 
tolic Delegate  to  the  Church  in  America,  with  plenary 
power,  in  order  that  he  might  observe  how  the  arrange- 
ment would  operate  in  that  form.  He  commissioned 
the  Archbishop  in  the  following  November  for  the  new 
undertaking,  but  did  not  accredit  him  to  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  withholding  from  him  all  diplo- 
matic status.  The  Delegate's  immediate  function  was 
to  represent  the  Pontiff  at  the  public  demonstrations  of 
the  World's  Fair;  beyond  this  the  program  was  indefi- 
nite, depending  upon  the  circumstances  of  his  reception 
and  the  relations  which  might  develop  between  him  and 
the  prelates  of  America,  as  well  as  the  civil  authorities. 

Before  leaving  Rome  as  the  custodian  of  the  relics, 
Satolli  conferred  at  length  with  the  Pope  regarding  the 
ecclesiastical  problems  with  which  he  was  to  deal  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic;  and,  full  of  the  spirit  and  pur- 
poses as  the  head  of  the  Church,  he  sailed  for  America. 
Leo  said  to  him  at  parting  that  he  looked  with  flowing 
tears  on  the  steadily  failing  Orient,  but  his  heart  and 

*  Letter  of  Cardinal  Rampolla  to  Secretary  Foster,  September  28,  1892. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  PAPAL  DELEGATE  467 

soul  were  filled  with  great  joy  in  beholding  the  progress 
of  liberty  in  the  great  Republic  of  the  West. 

Satolli  had  become  a  warm  admirer  of  Cardinal  Gib- 
bons while  on  his  previous  visit  to  Baltimore,  having 
observed  with  especial  interest  the  lines  along  which 
Gibbons'  cordial  relations  with  the  public  authorities 
were  maintained,  and  the  devoted  fidelity  with  which  a 
large  majority  of  the  American  Bishops  followed  the 
Cardinal's  leadership.  Arriving  in  America,  he  proceeded 
to  Baltimore  again,  holding  his  first  conferences  with 
Gibbons,  and  spending  some  days  at  the  archiepiscopal 
residence,  absorbing  from  the  Cardinal  views  of  the 
situation  which  would  aid  him  in  the  successful  trans- 
action of  his  mission. 

Perhaps  it  was  fortunate  that  the  first  Apostolic  Dele- 
gate had  not  been  trained  in  the  diplomatic  school  of 
the  Vatican.  Although  he  possessed  remarkable  breadth 
of  view  and  sympathies,  he  was  essentially  a  theologian 
and  had  no  impulse  to  concern  himself  with  political 
questions.  A  native  of  the  diocese  of  Perugia,  he  had 
studied  in  the  seminary  of  that  city,  which  was  presided 
over  at  the  time  of  Joachim  Pecci,  Archbishop  of  the 
diocese,  the  future  Leo  XHL  He  became  a  favorite  of 
Archbishop  Pecci,  who,  after  being  elevated  to  the 
Pontificate,  called  Satolli  to  Rome,  in  whose  atmosphere 
he  developed  the  broad  powers  which  the  keen  judgment 
of  his  superior  had  discerned  that  he  possessed.  He  filled 
with  success  important  professorships  in  the  College  of 
the  Propaganda  and  the  Academy  of  Noble  Ecclesiastics. 

In  his  early  studies  he  had  been  fascinated  by  the 
Thomistic  philosophy.    His  commentary  on  the  Summa 


468  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of  St.  Thomas,  in  five  volumes,  established  clearly  the 
profundity  of  his  intellect.  This  and  other  works  of 
authorship  moved  the  Pope  to  bestow  upon  him  a  special 
brief  of  commendation.  In  appearance  he  suggested  the 
thinker.  Slight  and  of  medium  height,  his  brilliant  dark 
eyes  were  capable  of  great  expression.  Surmounting  them 
was  a  broad  and  intellectual  forehead.  Mingling  with 
the  expression  of  the  scholar  were  strong  traces  of 
strength  and  self-repression,  which  indicated  that  he  was 
cast  in  a  mold  adapted  to  great  affairs. 

Satolli  executed  his  mission  to  the  full  satisfaction  of 
the  Pope  and  of  a  large  majority  of  the  American 
prelates.  The  fine  tact  which  he  possessed  was  in  abun- 
dant evidence  in  his  relations  with  the  civil  authorities 
in  the  events  of  the  World's  Fair,  and  no  question  was 
permitted  to  arise  that  was  even  in  a  remote  degree 
embarrassing  to  either.  Honor  was  accorded  him  on  all 
public  occasions,  and  he  reciprocated  by  developing  and 
expressing  a  genuine  and  discriminating  interest  in  the 
institutions  of  the  country.  His  ties  with  Gibbons  re- 
mained the  closest,  and  he  soon  grew  to  associate  him- 
self with  the  hopes  and  aspirations  of  the  Cardinal,  with 
whom  he  was  much  in  contact  in  dealing  with  the  im- 
portant ecclesiastical  questions  which  required  action  in 
the  year  of  his  arrival  and  the  following  year. 

Encouraged  by  the  harmonious  relations  thus  estab- 
lished, Leo,  in  January,  1893,  appointed  Satolli  perma- 
nent Apostolic  Delegate  to  the  Church  in  America,  with 
residence  in  Washington.  Thus  the  question  of  diplo- 
matic relations  was  not  raised,  but  the  principle  of  hav- 
ing a  Papal  representative  in  this  country  was  put  in 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  PAPAL  DELEGATE  469 

operation.  As  late  as  the  month  before  the  appointment 
of  Satolli  as  permanent  Apostolic  Delegate  Gibbons  had 
gone  on  record  as  not  wishing  to  ask  for  it;  but  he 
promptly  acquiesced  in  the  decision  and  acknowledged 
that  the  plan  worked  well  from  the  beginning.  A  memo- 
randum in  his  journal  shows  that  he  wrote  to  Leo  ex* 
pressing  thanks  for  the  appointment  of  Satolli. 

Satolli  won  the  warm  affection  of  the  American, 
prelates.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Archbishops  in  Chicago 
in  1893,  they  decided  to  issue  an  appeal  for  funds  to 
establish  a  legation  in  Washington,  and  this  was  done 
soon  afterward. 

It  was  not  in  the  plans  of  Leo  that  Satolli  or  any  other 
Delegate  should  remain  long  in  the  United  States.  It 
had  seemed  to  him  that  one  of  the  special  advantages 
of  such  an  emissary  from  abroad  was  that  he  would 
arrive  in  the  country  free  from  local  associations  which 
might  affect  his  judgment  on  ecclesiastical  questions  re- 
quiring a  detached  point  of  view.  The  general  form  in 
which  the  functions  of  the  Delegate  had  been  framed 
seemed  to  him  to  have  been  justified  by  events.  There 
had  been  no  encroachment  upon  the  authority  of  the 
Bishops;  no  encroachment  upon  the  State,  nor  even  any 
direct  relations  with  the  State.  Leo  voiced  his  thoughts 
upon  this  latter  question  in  his  letter  *  reviewing  his  own 
Pontificate  in  which  he  wrote: 

*The  Church  the  usurper  of  the  rights  of  the  State! 
The  Church  invading  the  political  domain  I  Why,  the 
Church  knows  and  teaches  that  her  Divine  Founder  has 
commanded  us  to  give  to  Casar  what  is  Caesar's  and  to 

*  Apostolic  letter,  March  19,  1902. 


470  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

God  what  is  God's ;  and  that  He  has  thus  sanctioned  the 
immutable  principle  of  an  enduring  distinction  between 
those  two  powers,  which  are  both  sovereign  in  their  re- 
spective spheres,  a  distinction  which  is  most  pregnant 
in  its  consequences,  and  eminently  conducive  to  the  de- 
velopment of  Christian  civilization. 

"In  its  spirit  of  charity  it  is  a  stranger  to  every  hostile 
design  against  the  State.  It  aims  only  in  making  these 
two  powers  go  side  by  side  for  the  advancement  of  the 
same  object,  namely,  for  man  and  for  human  society,  but 
by  different  ways  and  in  conformity  with  the  noble  plan 
which  has  been  assigned  for  its  Divine  mission.  Would 
to  God  that  its  action  were  received  without  mistrust  and 
without  suspicion."  ° 

Satolli  had  served  three  years  in  America  when  Gib- 
bons received  a  message  from  Rome  announcing  the 
Pontifical  decision  to  confer  the  red  hat  upon  the  Dele- 
gate. This  was  preliminary  to  the  nomination  of  his 
successor.  The  ceremonies  of  the  elevation  took  place 
January  5,  1896,  in  the  Baltimore  Cathedral,  when 
Archbishop  Kain,  who  had  succeeded  Kenrick  as  Arch- 
bishop of  St.  Louis,  preached.  Reviewing  in  behalf  of 
the  Hierarchy  the  perplexities  which  had  confronted  the 
Delegate,  and  the  success  with  which  he  had  overcome 
them.  Gibbons  made  a  parting  address  to  Satolli,  who, 
in  responding,  spoke  from  the  fulness  of  his  heart,  saying : 

"It  was  you  who  received  me  at  my  coming,  and  who 
immediately  became  my  friend  and  most  zealous  pro- 
tector. It  was  with  the  aid  of  your  wise  counsels  and 
unfailing  encouragement,  and  the  continual  assistance  of 
all  the  prelates  of  this  great  American  Hierarchy,  that 
my  labors  progressed  and  were  crowned  with  success." 

•Wynne,  The  Great  Encyclical  Letters  of  Leo  XIII,  p,  571. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  PAPAL  DELEGATE   471 

The  regret  with  which  Satolli's  departure  was  viewed 
was  lessened  by  the  tact,  judgment  and  adaptability 
which  were  displayed  by  his  immediate  successor,  Arch- 
bishop Sebastiano  Martinelli,  who,  as  "Delegate  Apos- 
tolic in  the  United  States  of  North  America,"  renewed 
the  ties  of  confidence  and  cooperation  which  had  been  so. 
marked  in  the  case  of  his  predecessor  and  the  Bishops  of 
the  country. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
THE   SCHOOL   QUESTION— THE   FARIBAULT   PLAN 

The  Catholic  Church  in  America  in  the  new  flush  of 
vigor  and  confidence  under  Gibbons'  leadership  no  longer, 
feared  to  speak  her  mind  on  any  question  that  concerned 
religion.  Issues  never  publicly  pressed  before,  held  in 
the  background  in  dread  of  proscription  and  hatred,  were 
brought  out  into  the  light  of  free  and  open  argument. 
She  knew  her  rights,  claimed  them  all,  asked  no  favors, 
conceded  full  rights  to  others.  The  spirit  of  Gibbons 
was  her  spirit. 

One  of  these  issues  was  the  school  question.  No  one 
held  more  tenaciously  than  Gibbons  to  the  Catholic  con- 
viction that  secular  teaching  of  the  young  must  be  accom- 
panied by  religious  teaching.  As  eternity  was  infinitely 
greater  than  time,  so  he  repeatedly  declared  that  it  was 
infinitely  more  important  to  prepare  for  the  future  life 
than  for  the  life  of  this  world. 

State  supervision  of  schools  commended  itself  to  his 
judgment  if  it  were  properly  applied.  His  idea  of  a 
public  school  for  Catholic  children  was  one  under  the 
supervision  of  the  local  examiner,  no  matter  what  his 
religious  faith,  subject  to  regulation  in  the  use  of  text- 
books the  same  as  other  schools;  in  discipline,  class  work, 
sanitary  regulation  and  all  other  points  conforming  to 
the  standard  set  by  the  public  authorities;  the  teachers 

472 


C.\l;i)l\  \l,  (IIIiHOXS  AT    rilK   I'i:\K   Ol     IlIS  laboks 
Fnjm  a  pholuymph  taken  in  IS'Jl,  five  >jear«  after  ids  slevalion  to  the  Cardimilate 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  473 

to  be  appointed  on  certificate,  subject  to  the  tests  pro- 
vided for  instructors  in  the  public  schools.  But,  apart 
from  all  this,  he  desired  that  the  teachers  of  Catholic 
children  should  be  Catholics,  and  that  for  a  portion  of 
the  day,  perhaps  before  or  after  the  regular  school  hours, 
they  should  instruct  the  pupils  in  the  principles  and  prac- 
tise of  religion.  In  his  view  it  was  desirable  that  the 
State  should  contribute  to  the  support  of  Catholic  schools 
only  in  the  proportion  to  which  the  parents  of  the  chil- 
dren in  those  schools  were  citizens. 

He  could  see  nothing  un-American  in  this.  A  school 
of  the  kind  which  he  favored  was  as  much  of  a  public 
school,  in  his  view,  as  any  other.  He  felt  that  this  name 
should  not  be  preempted  for  any  particular  type  of  school, 
particularly  one  in  which  religious  teaching  was  either, 
non-existent  or  so  scanty  as  to  be  negligible. 

Holding  these  views  unshakenly,  he  was  nevertheless 
not  disposed  to  press  the  question  of  a  general  change 
in  the  existing  system  of  public  schools  in  advance  of 
popular  sentiment.  He  was  persuaded  that  great  harm 
would  be  done  not  only  to  the  cause  of  religion  in  schools, 
but  to  the  general  cause  of  religion  in  the  United  States, 
by  forcing  a  general  verdict  on  the  question  of  a  new 
State  system  in  the  face  of  powerful  opposition. 

Gibbons  had  been  keenly  interest^ed  in  schools  from 
the  time  he  was  a  young  priest.  The  idea  seemed  to  be 
present  always  in  his  mind  that  education  was  a  hand- 
maid of  religion  and  patriotism ;  and  that  it  was  urgently 
necessary  to  diffuse  intelligence  as  widely  as  possible 
among  Americans,  in  order  to  prepare  them  for  exercis- 
ing the  duties  of  citizenship.    He  had  shown  this  bent 


474  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of  mind  when,  as  one  of  his  first  acts  as  a  young  priest, 
he  established,  under  disadvantages  which  would  have 
deterred  a  less  resolute  man,  a  parochial  school  at  St. 
Bridget's  Church,  Baltimore.  In  North  Carolina  he  had 
been  so  eager  to  promote  Catholic  education  in  a  State 
where  educational  facilities  were  crippled  by  the 
paralyzing  effects  of  the  Civil  War  that  he,  the  Bishop, 
had  given  up  part  of  his  time  to  teach  a  class  in  the  school 
at  Wilmington.  Under  his  inspiration  in  the  diocese  of 
Richmond,  the  number  of  schools  had  been  increased 
markedly. 

He  carried  the  same  enthusiasm  for  education  to  Balti- 
more when  he  went  there  as  Archbishop,  establishing 
many  new  schools,  and  strengthening  others.  His  predi- 
lection for  teaching  was  also  indicated  by  his  continuous 
activity  in  the  establishment  of  Sunday  schools  from  the 
time  when  he  was  secretary  to  Archbishop  Spalding, 
when,  through  his  efforts,  the  first  school  of  that  kind  at 
the  Baltimore  Cathedral  had  been  founded. 

He  set  forth  his  views  definitely  and  forcibly  in  a 
pastoral  letter  on  education  issued  to  the  clergy  and  laity 
of  the  archdiocese  of  Baltimore  in  1883.^  As  a  funda- 
mental principle  he  declared  that  the  religious  and  secu- 
lar education  of  children  could  not  be  divorced  "without 
inflicting  a  fatal  wound  upon  the  soul."  A  high  develop- 
ment of  the  intellect  without  a  corresponding  expansion 
of  the  religious  nature,  he  believed,  would  often  prove 
to  be  a  curse  instead  of  a  blessing.  His  idea  of  religion 
was  to  make  it  an  everyday  affair,  not  something  to  be 
put  on  like  a  holiday  dress  on  Sunday.     The  religious 

*  Archives  of  the  Baltimore  Cathedral. 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  475 

and  moral  training  of  the  young  should  be  interwoven 
with  the  threads  of  daily  life.  At  every  step,  as  far 
as  possible,  their  feet  should  be  guided  in  the  paths  that 
would  lead  to  the  precious  goal  of  eternal  salvation. 
Church  and  Sunday  school  were  not  enough  for  children. 
"They  should,  as  far  as  possible,  breathe  every  day  a 
healthful  religious  atmosphere  in  those  (week  day) 
schools,"  he  wrote,  "where  not  only  their  minds  are  en- 
lightened, but  where  faith,  piety  and  sound  morality 
are  nourished  and  invigorated." 

He  admonished  parents  to  develop  the  "minds  and 
hearts"  of  their  children,  so  that  "then  they  can  go  forth 
into  the  world  gifted  with  a  well-furnished  mind  and 
great  confidence  in  God."  He  emphasized  the  need  of 
secular  education  for  all  and  advised  that  the  history  of 
the  United  States,  with  the  origin  and  principles  of  the 
government,  and  the  lives  of  the  eminent  men  who  had 
helped  to  found  and  preserve  it,  should  be  an  especial 
object  of  study,  in  order  that  the  children  might  grow 
up  "enlightened  citizens  and  devoted  patriots."  He 
added : 

"But  it  is  not  enough  for  your  children  to  have  a 
secular  education;  they  must  also  acquire  a  religious 
training.  Indeed,  religious  knowledge  is  as  far  above 
human  sciences  as  the  soul  is  above  the  body ;  as  Heaven 
is  above  earth;  as  eternity  is  above  time.  The  little 
child  who  is  familiar  with  his  catechism  is  really  more 
enlightened  on  truths  that  should  come  home  to  every 
rational  mind  than  the  most  profound  philosophers  of 
pagan  antiquity,  or  even  than  many  so-called  philoso- 
phers of  our  own  time.  He  has  mastered  the  great  prob- 
lems of  life;  he  knows  his  origin,  his  sublime  destiny. 


476  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

and  the  means  of  attaining  it — a  knowledge  which  no 
human  science  can  impart  without  the  light  of  revela- 
tion." 

I  While  a  knowledge  of  bookkeeping  was  valuable  for 
elementary  pupils,  he  proceeded,  it  was  not  enough,  un- 
less the  child  were  taught  how  to  balance  his  accounts 
daily  between  his  conscience  and  his  God.  "What 
profit,"  he  asked,  "would  it  be  to  understand  the  diurnal 
and  annual  motions  of  the  earth,  if  the  pupil  did  not 
know  and  feel  that  his  future  home  is  beyond  the  stars 
in  heaven*?"  While  it  was  important  to  be  acquainted 
with  the  lives  of  heroes  who  had  founded  empires,  of 
men  of  genius  who  had  enlightened  the  world,  it  was  still 
more  necessary  to  learn  something  of  the  King  of  Kings, 
who  created  all  those  kingdoms  and  by  Whom  kings 
reigned.  If  the  soul  were  to  die  with  the  body,  then 
secular  education  would  be  enough;  but  it  was  not  wise 
to  train  the  young  for  the  comparatively  brief  time  to 
be  spent  in  earthly  existence  and  leave  them  without 
training  for  the  infinite  future  beyond  this  life. 
;  "Our  youth,"  he  wrote,  "cherish  the  hope  of  becoming 
one  day  citizens  of  heaven  as  well  as  of  this  land;  and, 
as  they  can  not  be  good  citizens  of  this  country  without 
studying  and  observing  its  laws,  neither  can  they  be- 
come citizens  of  heaven,  unless  they  know  and  practice 
the  laws  of  God." 

'  The  same  privileges  and  duties  which  he  exhorted  in 
the  case  of  Catholics  he  freely  conceded  to  others. 
They,  as  far  as  they  desired,  might  impart  religious  in- 
struction to  children  of  their  own  faith  in  connection  with 
the  branches   of  secular   learning.     In   his   mind,    the 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  477 

supreme  danger  was  the  rearing  of  the  young  without 
the  guidance  of  any  church,  without  moral  instruction, 
without  character  building  apart  from  the  cultivation  of 
the  mind. 

He  feared  that  the  children  of  Catholic  parents,  if 
they  did  not  lose  all  religion  in  purely  secular  schools, 
might  lose  their  own  distinctive  faith.  To  him  this  was 
a  jewel  which  should  be  preserved.  With  all  his  re- 
markable liberality,  it  would  have  been  absurd  to  say 
that  he  considered  "one  church  as  good  as  another,"  any 
more  than  a  minister  of  a  Protestant  faith  would  have 
considered  the  Catholic  faith  "as  good  as"  his  own.  He 
considered  the  Catholic  Church  to  be  the  divinely  ap- 
pointed agent  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  on  earth,  and 
the  custodian  of  the  deposit  of  heavenly  truth.  Acknowl- 
edging the  common  brotherhood  of  all  the  children  of 
God,  he  could,  and  did,  recognize  men  who  differed  from 
him  in  religious  conviction  as  truly  good  and  thoroughly 
sincere.  Even  those  who  were  closest  to  him  never  heard 
him  say  a  word  in  reproach  of  any  religious  denomination 
or  of  its  members,  individually  or  collectively.  But  he 
considered  that  it  was  desirable  to  exercise  the  utmost 
efforts  without  encroaching  upon  the  rights  of  others  to 
retain  within  the  fold  of  his  Church  all  children  born  of 
Catholic  parents.  Without  parochial  schools,  he  saw 
danger  that  the  parishes  would  languish  and  disintegrate 
in  the  midst  of  the  tendencies  of  everyday  life. 

He  did  not  doubt  the  earnestness  of  the  convictions 
of  those  who  believed  only  in  secular  education  in  the 
schools.  As  far  as  their  view  extended,  he  sympathized 
with  it:  but  his  contention  was  that  their  plan  did  not 


478  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

go  far  enough  and  embrace  religious  training  also.  He 
wished  the  Bible  to  be  read  in  the  public  schools,  if  no 
other  form  of  religious  instruction  could  be  provided. 
In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  President  of  the  Chicago 
Women's  Educational  Union,  he  wrote: 

"The  men  and  women  of  our  day  who  are  educated  in 
our  public  schools  will,  I  am  sure,  be  much  better  them- 
selves, and  will  also  be  able  to  transmit  to  their  children 
an  inheritance  of  truth,  virtue  and  deep  morality,  if  at 
school  they  are  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  Biblical  facts 
and  teachings.  A  judicious  selection  of  Scripture  read- 
ings; appropriate  presentation  of  the  various  Scripture 
incidents,  born  of  reflection  on  the  passages  read  and 
scenes  presented,  cannot  but  contribute,  in  my  opinion, 
to  the  better  education  of  the  children  in  our  public 
schools,  and  thus  exercise  a  healthy  influence  on  society 
at  large,  since  the  principles  of  morality  and  religion 
will  be  silently  instilled  while  instruction  is  imparted  in 
branches  of  human  knowledge."  ^ 

The  hope  was  strong  in  him  that  the  problem  would 
be  worked  out  without  excitement  or  injustice.  Speak- 
ing at  the  dedication  of  a  building  for  St.  Joseph's  School 
of  the  Baltimore  Cathedral  in  September,  1892,  he  said: 

"I  trust  that  the  Catholic  schools  will  one  day  become 
in  some  way  connected  with  the  public  school  system." 

He  did  not  attempt  to  prescribe  what  that  way  should 
be.  The  next  year,  however,  a  program  on  the  subject 
was  drawn  up  by  some  priests  and  laymen  in  Baltimore, 
who  set  on  foot  a  movement  to  obtain  from  the  public 
authorities   an   appropriation   for   Catholic   schools.     A 

*ReiIy,  Collections  in  the  Life  and  Times  of  Cardinal  Gibbons,  Vol. 
Ill,  p.  173. 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  479 

circular  embodying  their  views  was  distributed,  and 
preparations  were  made  to  introduce  in  the  Maryland 
legislature  a  bill  in  conformity  with  them.  The  bill 
provided  that  denominational  schools  be  incorporated 
by  the  State;  that  the  trustees  of  such  schools  should 
have  the  right  of  selecting  their  own  teachers;  that  the 
teachers  should  be  required  to  pass  the  regular  examina- 
tions as  to  competency  that  were  provided  by  the  public 
authorities;  that  the  schools  should  be  subject  to  inspec- 
tion and  regulation  by  those  authorities ;  that  denomina- 
tional school  buildings  should  be  rented  to  the  city  or 
State  at  the  nominal  sum  of  one  dollar  a  year  each,  which, 
it  was  urged,  would  save  the  State  from  an  expense  of 
some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars;  and  that  the 
teachers  should  be  paid  by  the  public  authorities. 

The  preamble  of  the  bill  declared  with  emphasis  that 
its  adoption  meant  no  form  of  Church  union  with  the 
State.     Its  essential  meaning  was  thus  expressed: 

"As  the  State  is  not  united  to  any  particular  religious 
denomination,  the  State  is  not  expected  to  teach  re- 
ligion; but  it  can  be  supplied  by  public  denominational, 
schools." 

If  the  support  of  Cardinal  Gibbons  to  this  program 
could  have  been  enlisted,  it  was  intended  to  begin  sys- 
tematic efforts  for  having  the  bill  adopted  by  the  legisla- 
ture. But  he  firmly  refused  to  countenance  it,  and  his 
influence  was  sufficient  to  stop  the  movement  before  the 
bill  could  be  introduced.  He  was  persuaded  that  the  time 
was  not  ripe  for  an  annual  concession  by  the  legisla- 
ture of  an  appropriation  for  the  support  of  Catholic 
schools. 


480  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

With  the  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  Catholic 
schools  which  marked  the  spread  of  the  faith  among  new 
millions,  it  was  inevitable  that  the  question  should  be- 
come one  of  the  most  important  in  the  general  perspec- 
tive of  the  Church  in  this  country.  As  such  schools 
existed  in  many  cases  side  by  side  with  public  schools 
of  the  ordinary  type,  in  which  no  religious  instruction 
was  required,  and  in  many  of  which  no  such  instruction 
was  given,  there  was  bound  to  be  discussion  and  pro- 
posal of  various  forms  of  fusing  the  two  systems,  be- 
cause of  the  obvious  duplication  of  cost  and  effort.  From 
the  beginnings  of  the  public  schools  in  the  United  States, 
Catholics  who  were  taxed  for  their  support  and  yet  who 
sent  their  children  from  conscientious  conviction  to  the 
parochial  schools  had  felt  the  desire  to  be  rid  of  the 
double  burden. 

A  focus  of  all  the  controversy  in  which  the  question 
became  involved  developed  in  an  experiment  which 
Archbishop  Ireland  undertook  at  the  towns  of  Faribault 
and  Stillwater,  Minnesota.  The  centering  of  the  agita- 
tion there  was  due  probably  more  to  the  strong  per- 
sonality of  Ireland  than  to  the  novelty  of  his  methods. 
Thus,  when  the  discussion  suddenly  became  inflamed,  the 
designation  "Faribault  Plan"  was  often  bestowed  upon 
the  whole  problem. 

It  seemed  to  be  the  fate  of  Ireland  to  draw  fire  wher- 
ever he  went.  He  was  willing  to  face  the  assaults  of 
popular  tumult  because  he  believed  that  in  the  end  right 
would  prevail,  and  that  the  American  people  would  find 
a  solution  of  all  problems  relating  to  their  schools  which 
would  be  the  best  for  them. 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  481 

When  Ireland,  not  hesitating  to  strike  out  boldly, 
made  an  arrangement  with  the  public  authorities  at 
Faribault  and  Stillwater,  exaggerated  accounts  of  its 
nature  and  purposes  soon  found  general  currency.  Angry 
gusts  of  debate  on  the  wisdom  of  the  plan  developed 
and  impartial  consideration  of  it  in  the  public  mind  was 
for  a  time  impossible.  Enemies  of  the  Archbishop  made 
use  of  the  situation  for  a  twofold  purpose :  some,  to  make 
it  appear  that  he  was  compromising  Catholic  principles 
of  education  by  submerging  them  in  his  own  diocese  and 
accepting  the  principle  of  purely  secular  schools;  others, 
that  he  was  making  war  upon  the  public  schools  by  in- 
sidiously attempting  to  undermine  them  through  the  in- 
troduction of  sectarian  influences. 

Higher  still  rose  the  waves  of  controversy  when  Arch- 
bishop Ireland,  in  an  address  in  July,  1890,  at  a  public 
school  convention  in  St.  Paul,  thus  set  forth  the  funda- 
mentals of  his  view : 

"The  secular  instruction  in  our  State  schools  is  our 
pride  and  glory,  and  I  regret  that  there  is  necessity  for 
the  parish  school.  The  spirit  of  the  parish  school,  if  not 
the  school  itself,  is  widespread  among  American  Prot- 
estants and  it  is  made  manifest  by  their  determined  op- 
position to  the  exclusion  of  Scripture  reading  and  other 
devotional  exercises  from  the  school-room. 

"The  State  school  is  non- religious ;  ignores  religion. 
There  is  and  there  can  be  no  positive  religious  teaching^ 
where  the  principle  of  non-sectarianism  rules.  It  follows 
then  that  the  child  will  grow  up  in  the  belief  that  religion 
is  of  minor  importance,  and  religious  indifference  will 
be  his  creed.  You  say  the  school  teaches  morals,  but 
morals  without  religious  principles  do  not  exist.     Secu- 


482  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

larists  and  unbelievers  will  interpose  their  rights.  Again 
there  are  differences  among  Christians.  Catholics  would 
not  inflict  their  beliefs  upon  Protestants,  nor  should 
Protestantism  be  inflicted  upon  Catholic  children. 

"Some  compromise  becomes  necessary.  Taxation 
without  representation  is  wrong,  and  while  the  minority 
pays  school  taxes,  its  beliefs  should  be  respected.  Amer- 
ica is  trying  to  divorce  religion  and  the  school,  although 
religion  pervades  our  systems  and  the  school  was  origi- 
nally religious  through  and  through.  As  a  solution  of 
the  difficulty,  I  would  permeate  the  regular  State  school 
with  the  religion  of  the  majority  of  the  land,  be  it  as 
Protestant  as  Protestantism  can  be,  and  I  would  do  as 
they  do  in  England — pay  for  the  secular  instruction  given 
in  denominational  schools  according  to  results;  that  is, 
each  pupil  passing  the  examination  before  State  officials 
and  in  full  accordance  with  the  State  program." 

Catholic  as  well  as  non-Catholic  criticism  was  now 
showered  upon  Archbishop  Ireland  so  copiously  that 
Rome  asked  Gibbons  to  report  on  the  subject.  In  an  ex- 
change of  letters  with  Ireland,  he  learned  thoroughly 
that  prelate's  views  as  well  as  the  steps  that  had  been 
taken  at  Faribault  and  Stillwater.  These  investigations 
and  a  study  of  the  Archbishop's  speech  convinced  him 
that  Ireland  had  done  nothing  to  compromise  the 
Church's  view  on  schools.  He  wrote  in  his  journal  De- 
cember 30,  1890: 

"I  sent  the  Holy  Father  a  reply  to  a  letter  of  Novem- 
ber 24,  from  the  Cardinal  Secretary  of  State  (RampoUa) 
written  in  the  Pope's  name,  in  which  my  opinion  was 
asked  about  the  soundness  of  Archbishop  Ireland's  dis- 
course at  the  Public  School  Convention  held  in  St.  Paul, 
July  10.     My  reply  covering  ten  pages  of  large  letter 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  483 

paper  is  a  full  vindication  of  the  Archbishop.  I  also  sent 
a  French  translation  of  the  Archbishop's  address  and 
wrote  a  brief  letter  to  Cardinal  Rampolla  and  to  Dr. 
O'Connell,  to  whom  I  enclosed  the  other  letters." 

Gibbons  wrote  to  Monsignor  O'Connell: 

"Baltimore,  September  lo,  189,0. 
"Right  Rev.  dear  Friend: 

"Archbishop  Ireland  has  been  severely  handled  by- 
some  of  the  Catholic  papers  on  account  of  his  address  on 
the  school  question.  I  hope  it  will  not  hurt  him  in  Rome 
He  is  really  a  power  here,  and  has  more  public  influence 
than  half  a  dozen  of  his  neighbors.  Such  a  man  should 
not  be  under  a  cloud.  .  .  . 

"The  Archbishop  was  writing  for  his  own  section  of 
the  country,  with  which  he  is  better  acquainted  than  any 
other  prelate  could  be.  He  was  simply  throwing  out  sug- 
gestions for  effecting  some  modus  vivendi  between  the 
Catholics  and  the  public  schools.  The  most  liberal  terms 
he  proposed  would  secure  for  the  Catholic  children  at- 
tending in  some  places  the  public  schools  in  large  num- 
bers a  Catholic  education  which  is  now  denied  them  in 
the  public  schools.  .  .  . 

"There  is  no  prelate  in  the  United  States  who  has  done 
more  to  elevate  and  advance  the  Catholic  religion  here 
than  Archbishop  Ireland.  He  is  honored  and  admired 
by  the  whole  community.  Protestants  regard  him  as  a 
fearless  and  uncompromising  advocate  of  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  Catholics  venerate  him  as  a  grand  and  eloquent 
exponent  of  their  religion.  They  almost  idolize  him. 
The  circulation  of  even  a  rumor  here  to  the  effect  that 
the  Archbishop's  course  was  disproved  by  the  Holy  See, 
or  that  he  did  not  enjoy  the  entire  confidence  of  the 
Propaganda,  or  that  he  was  under  a  cloud,  would  do  im- 
mense mischief  to  religion,  would  discourage  and  dampen 


484.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

the  ardent  zeal  of  the  Archbishop  in  evangelizing  the 
West  (as  he  is  doing) ;  would  elate  our  enemies,  and 
sadden  the  hearts  of  the  great  Catholic  body. 

"The  representations  against  the  Archbishop  were 
doubtless  made  by  parties  who  are  narrow  and  who  do 
not  understand  the  country  in  which  they  live.  .  .  .  Had 
he  been  a  dumb  dbg,  no  whelp  would  have  barked  at  him 
here. 

"I  am  saddened  at  the  thought  that  such  a  man  should 
suffer  from  irreverent  tongues,  and  I  am  sure  that  my 
sadness,  if  the  cause  were  known,  would  be  shared  by 
nearly  the  entire  episcopate,  who  are  justly  proud  of 
their  colleague. 

"Faithfully  yours  in  Christ, 

"J.  Cardinal  Gibbons." 

Gibbons  called  the  Archbishops  together  to  consider 
the  subject  when  they  assembled  in  St.  Louis  in  1891 
at  the  celebration  of  Archbishop  Kenrick's  episcopal  jubi- 
lee. He  presided  over  the  meeting  and  asked  Archbishop 
Ireland  to  explain  in  detail  the  plan  in  regard  to  a  school 
settlement  which  he  had  put  in  operation  in  his  diocese. 
Ireland  faced  the  inquiry  with  the  utmost  frankness.  He 
told  his  brother  prelates  that  he  was  happy  to  submit  his 
action  to  their  cognizance,  and  was  ready  to  retrace  his 
steps  if  they  thought  that  he  had  passed  the  limits  of 
right  and  prudence.  He  set  forth  in  detail  the  agree- 
ment between  himself  and  the  school  commissioners  of 
Faribault  and  Stillwater,  as  follows: 

"1.  The  school  buildings  remain  the  property  of  the 
parish.  They  are  leased  to  the  school  commissioners 
during  the  school  hours  only — that  is,  from  9  a.  m.  to 
3-45  P-  M.    Outside  these  hours  they  are  at  the  sole  dis- 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  485 

posal  of  the  parish;  the  pastor  and  the  Sisters  who  teach 
can  hold  in  them  such  exercises  as  they  deem  proper. 
The  lease  is  for  one  year  only ;  at  the  end  of  the  year,  the 
Archbishop  may  renew  the  lease  or  resume  the  exclusive 
control  of  the  buildings, 

"2.  The  teachers  must  hold  diplomas  from  the  State, 
and  the  progress  of  the  pupils  is  determined,  as  to  the 
various  branches  of  profane  learning,  by  parochial  ex- 
aminations held  in  conformity  with  official  requirements. 
The  class  rooms  have  been  furnished  and  are  kept  by  the 
school  commission,  and  the  Sisters  receive  the  same  sal- 
aries as  are  paid  to  the  ordinary  teachers. 

"3.  During  school  hours,  the  Sisters  give  no  religious 
instruction;  but  as  they  are  not  only  Catholics,  but  also 
members  of  a  religious  order,  they  wear  their  religious 
habits,  and  do  not  alter  their  teachings  in  any  respect. 
The  schools,  although  under  the  control  of  the  State,  are, 
in  respect  to  instruction,  precisely  what  they  were  before 
the  arrangement  was  made.  The  Sisters  teach  the  cate- 
chism after  school  hours,  in  such,  a  way  that  the  pupils 
notice  merely  a  change  from  one  lesson  to  another.  Be- 
sides, at  8.30  A.  M.,  that  is,  before  the  regular  school  hour, 
the  children  attend  Mass;  and  on  Sundays,  the  school 
buildings  are  at  the  exclusive  disposition  of  the  parish. 

"4.  The  public  schools  are  scattered  in  various  parts 
of  Minnesota  cities,  and  children  are  required  to  attend 
the  school  in  the  district  wherein  they  live.  Faribault 
and  Stillwater  are  excepted  from  this  rule.  Catholic 
children  can  attend  the  schools  in  question  from  all  parts 
of  the  cities;  the  Protestant  children  living  in  the  dis- 
tricts where  our  schools  are  situated  may  do  so,  but  are 
not  obliged.  The  result  is  that  almost  all  the  Catholic 
children  of  the  two  cities  attend  these  schools,  whereas 
there  are  very  few  Protestants,  and  the  influence  is  almost 
wholly  Catholic."  ' 

'Official  report  of  the  meeting  of  Archbishops  to  Leo  XIII. 


486  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  subject  was  thus  clarified,  and  some  of  the  Arch- 
bishops who  had  not  studied  the  question  thoroughly  were 
surprised  to  find  how  little  basis  there  had  been  for  the 
furious  dispute.  Several  of  them  explicitly  approved 
Ireland's  course,  and  not  one  offered  a  word  of  blame. 
Archbishop  Williams,  of  Boston,  went  so  far  as  to  say 
that  he  congratulated  Ireland  on  the  results  obtained; 
that  his  own  wish  was  to  submit  the  schools  of  his  dio- 
cese to  a  similar  arrangement;  and  that  he  hoped  to  suc- 
ceed, at  least  as  to  some  of  them. 

The  subject  was  generally  discussed  at  the  meeting 
and  the  points  were  brought  out  that  the  teachers  at  Fari- 
bault and  Stillwater  received  more  nearly  adequate  pay 
than  the  parishes  could  afford  to  give;  that  Catholics  had 
no  longer  to  pay  the  double  tax  for  the  public  school  and 
the  parochial  school;  and  that  the  pastor  was  relieved 
of  anxiety  in  obtaining  the  necessary  money  to  carry  on 
the  schools. 

It  appeared  to  be  clear  to  all  of  the  Archbishops  that 
in  placing  the  two  schools  under  the  school  boards,  which 
were  only  municipal  organizations,  Ireland  did  not  intend 
to  invalidate  the  principle  of  the  parochial  school.  His 
aim  was  to  save  two  schools  which  had  been  perishing, 
and  to  obtain  for  the  large  number  of  Catholic  children 
in  Faribault  and  Stillwater  the  religious  influences  which 
had  been  lacking  in  the  public  schools. 

As  the  plan  was  weighed  in  council,  the  Archbishops 
were  interested  to  observe  that  Ireland  had  not  even  made 
an  irmovation.  Other  schools  were  then  operated  on 
plans  almost  exactly  similar  in  the  dioceses  of  New  York, 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  487 

Albany,  Buffalo,  Rochester,  Harrisburg,  Erie,  Peoria, 
Milwaukee  and  Savannah. 

"No  one,"  Cardinal  Gibbons  remarked,  "had  dreamed 
of  raising  objections  and  of  accusing  the  priests  of  those 
dioceses  of  unfaithfulness  to  their  mission  and  of  treason 
to  the  Church;  but  passions  were  stirred  the  instant 
Monsignor  Ireland  acted.'* 

Fully  sustained  by  his  brethren  of  the  Hierarchy  in 
America,  and  confident  of  the  powerful  aid  of  his  friend 
and  leader,  Gibbons,  Ireland  resolved  to  carry  his  case 
to  Rome,  in  order  that  the  voice  of  his  enemies  might  b?- 
hushed  completely.  Leaving  St.  Paul  in  January,  1892, 
he  prosecuted  his  mission  with  signal  success  in  the  Eter- 
nal City,  backed  by  Gibbons,  and  winning  every  point 
for  which  he  contended. 

The  entry  is  found  in  the  Cardinal's  journal: 

"March  1  [1892].  Wrote  to  the  Pope  today  com- 
mending the  course  of  Archbishop  Ireland  in  the  Fari- 
bault school  contract,  and  animadverting  on  the  bitter- 
ness of  his  enemies." 

At  a  special  congregation  of  the  Propaganda  held  April 
21  of  that  year  the  following  decision  was  reached: 

"Without  derogating  from  the  decrees  of  the  councils 
of  Baltimore  on  parochial  schools,  the  arrangement  en- 
tered into  by  Archbishop  Ireland  concerning  the  schools 
at  Faribault  and  Stillwater,  taking  into  consideration  all 
the  circumstances,  can  be  tolerated." 

The  Pope  approved  this  action  in  an  audience  held  the 
same  day.     In  July  Cardinal  Ledochowski,  Prefect  of 


488  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

the  Propaganda,  addressed  a  letter  to  Cardinal  Gibbons 
advising  that  the  American  Archbishops  at  their  next 
meeting  search  with  care  for  a  means  of  supplying  the 
religious  needs  of  Catholic  children  who,  outside  the 
system  of  the  parochial  schools,  frequented  the  public 
schools  in  great  numbers.* 

Gibbons  summoned  the  Archbishops  to  meet  in  New 
York  November  17,  1892,  when  Satolli,  who  had  re- 
cently arrived  in  this  country,  was  able  to  speak  to  them 
with  authority  as  Papal  Delegate  regarding  the  general 
lines  for  working  out  a  solution  of  the  school  question. 
Satolli,  who,  with  customary  thoroughness,  had  made  a 
study  of  the  whole  subject,  outlined  fourteen  proposi- 
tions, all  of  which  were  based  upon  the  decrees  of  the 
Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore,  which  in  this  con- 
troversy, as  in  others,  triumphantly  withstood  the  tests 
of  time  and  circumstance.  From  these  decrees  he  quoted 
the  declarations  that  ample  care  must  be  taken  to  erect 
Catholic  schools,  to  enlarge  and  improve  those  already 
established,  and  to  make  them  equal  to  the  public  schools 
in  teaching  and  in  discipline.  He  also  cited  the  refusal 
of  the  Council  to  condemn  persons  who  sent  their  children 
to  the  public  schools,  saying: 

"The  Catholic  Church  in  general,  and  especially  the 
Holy  See,  far  from  condemning  or  treating  with  indif- 
ference the  public  schools,  desires  rather  that,  by  the 
joint  action  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities,  there 
should  be  public  schools  in  every  State  as  the  circum- 
stances of  the  people  require  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
useful  arts  and  the  natural  sciences;  but  the  Catholic 
Church  shrinks  from  those   features  of  public  schools 

'Archives  of  the  Baltimore  Cathedral. 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  489 

which  are  opposed  to  the  truths  of  Christianity  and  to 
morality;  and  since  in  the  interest  of  society  itself,  these 
objectionable  features  are  removable,  therefore  not  only 
the  Bishops,  but  the  citizens  at  large,  should  labor  to  re- 
move them  in  virtue  of  their  own  right  and  in  the  cause 
of  morality." 

The  Archbishop  set  forth  that  public  schools  bore 
within  themselves  approximate  danger  to  faith  and 
morals,  because  in  them  a  purely  secular  education  was 
given,  and  also  because  the  teachers  were  chosen  indis- 
criminately from  every  sect  "and  no  law  prevents  them 
from  working  the  ruin  of  youth  in  tender  minds."  He 
also  considered  it  a  serious  objection  that  in  many  such 
schools  children  of  both  sexes  were  brought  together  for 
their  lessons  in  the  same  room. 

Satolli  was  careful  to  point  out  that  his  warnings  were 
based  entirely  upon  the  necessity  of  the  religious  training 
of  youth,  and  not  upon  opposition  to  a  plan  under  any 
specific  name.     He  said : 

'Tf  it  be  clear  that  in  a  given  locality,  owing  to  the 
wise  dispositions  of  public  authorities,  or  to  the  watchful 
prudence  of  school  boards,  teachers  and  parents,  the 
above  dangers  to  faith  and  morals  disappear,  then  it  is 
lawful  for  Catholic  parents  to  send  their  children  to  these 
schools  to  acquire  the  elements  of  letters  and  arts,  pro- 
viding the  parents  themselves  do  not  neglect  their  most 
serious  duty,  and  the  pastors  of  souls  put  forth  every  ef- 
fort to  instruct  the  children  and  train  them  in  all  that 
pertains  to  Catholic  worship  and  life." 

The  Papal  Delegate,  touching  on  the  Faribault  plan, 
said  that  he  would  greatly  desire,  and  that  it  would  be  a 
most  happy  arrangement,  for  the  Bishops  to  agree  with 


490  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

the  civil  authorities  or  with  the  members  of  school  boards 
to  conduct  the  schools  with  mutual  attention  and  due  con- 
sideration for  their  respective  rights.  He  put  stress  upon 
his  admonition  that  steps  be  taken  to  raise  the  standard 
of  instruction  in  Catholic  schools,  and  that  normal 
schools  be  established  for  the  preparation  of  Catholic 
teachers.*^ 

Satolli's  declaration  fully  met  the  views  of  the  Arch- 
bishops, and  they  closed  their  sessions  with  an  expression 
of  satisfaction  with  the  way  in  which  he  had  fulfilled  his 
mission.  After  the  meeting,  Leo,  watchful  lest  some  pre- 
text might  remain  for  a  renewal  of  the  controversy  in  an 
unexpected  quarter,  took  the  additional  precaution  to 
obtain  from  each  of  them  a  private  letter  fully  opening 
his  mind  on  the  subject.  These  letters  convinced  him 
that  there  was  still  a  doubt  on  the  part  of  some  as  to 
whether  the  decrees  of  the  Third  Plenary  Council  had 
not  been  abrogated  in  part  by  the  Delegate's  interpreta- 
tion. The  exercise  of  final  authority  in  the  decision  of 
the  controversy  seemed  to  him  to  be  necessary;  and  he 
addressed  a  letter  to  Cardinal  Gibbons  which  clarified 
every  point  of  doubt  that  appeared  to  remain. 

The  Pope  commended  Satolli's  declarations,  saying: 

"The  principal  propositions  offered  by  him  were  drawn 
from  the  decrees  of  the  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Balti- 
more; and  especially  declare  that  Catholic  schools  are  to 
be  most  sedulously  promoted,  and  that  it  has  been  left 
to  the  judgment  and  conscience  of  the  Ordinary  to  de- 
cide according  to  the  circumstances  when  it  is  lawful,  and 
when  unlawful  to  attend  the  public  schools." 

The  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Baltimore  on  the  school 

'Satolli,  Loyalty  to  Church  and  State,  p.  27  et  seq. 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  491 

question,  the  Pope  set  forth,  were  to  be  faithfully  ob- 
served so  far  as  they  contained  a  general  rule  of  action. 
Every  endeavor  must  be  made  to  multiply  the  Catholic 
schools  and  to  raise  their  standards  and  equipment;  but 
the  public  schools  were  not  to  be  entirely  condemned, 
since  cases  might  occur,  as  the  Council  itself  had  foreseen, 
in  which  it  was  permissible  to  attend  them.  The  Pope 
continued : 

"Wherefore,  we  confidently  hope  (and  your  devoted- 
ness  to  us  and  to  the  Apostolic  See  increases  our  confi- 
dence) that,  having  put  away  every  cause  of  error  and 
all  anxiety,  you  will  work  together,  with  hearts  united 
and  with  perfect  charity,  for  the  wider  and  wider  spread 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  your  immense  country.  But, 
while  industriously  laboring  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  salvation  of  the  souls  entrusted  to  your  care,  strive 
also  to  promote  the  welfare  of  your  fellow-citizens  and 
to  prove  the  earnestness  of  your  love  for  your  country,  so 
that  they  who  are  entrusted  with  the  administration  of 
the  government  may  clearly  recognize  how  strong  an  in- 
fluence for  the  support  of  public  order  and  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  public  prosperity  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Catholic  Church. 

"And  as  to  yourself,  beloved  son,  we  know  for  certain 
that  you  will  not  only  communicate  to  our  other  vener- 
able brethren  in  the  United  States  this  our  mind,  which 
it  hath  seemed  good  to  us  to  make  known  to  you,  but  that 
you  will  also  strive  with  all  your  power  that,  the  con- 
troversy being  not  only  calmed,  but  totally  ended,  as  is 
so  greatly  to  be  desired,  the  minds  which  have  been  ex- 
cited by  it  may  peacefully  be  united  in  mutual  good- 
will." « 

'Letter  of  Leo  XIII  to  Cardinal  Gibbons  May  31,  1893    (Cathedral 
Archives,  Baltimore). 


492  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  controversy  was  thus  closed.  The  Bishops  were 
convinced  that  the  opportunity  before  them  was  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  parochial  schools  and  to  improve 
their  equipment.  New  energies  toward  that  end  were  put 
forth  in  every  diocese;  the  attacks  which  had  centered 
upon  Archbishop  Ireland  and  his  experiments  in  Minne- 
sota subsided.  Satolli,  the  warm  friend  of  Gibbons  and 
of  Ireland,  lost  no  opportunity  of  defending  the  motives 
and  prudence  of  both. 

Gibbons  wrote  to  Archbishop  Corrigan: 

"Baltimore,  May  18,  1892. 
"My  dear  Archbishop: 

"My  attention  was  called  to  a  dispatch  from  Baltimore 
dated  May  1st  and  published  on  the  14th  in  the  New. 
York  Sun,  stating  that  while  I  refused  to  be  interviewed, 
I  differed  with  your  Grace  in  my  interpretation  of  the 
Roman  decision  regarding  the  Faribault  case.  The  truth 
is  that,  while  I  candidly  believe  that  the  decision  sus- 
tains Archbishop  Ireland,  I  refused  to  be  interviewed  at 
all  on  the  subject.  .  .  . 

"Whatever  difference  may  have  existed  among  us,  we 
are  all,  I  am  sure,  animated  by  the  purest  motives  of  zeal 
for  the  education  of  our  youth.    May  the  Lord  grant  us 
peace  and  mutual  love  now  that  the  matter  is  settled. 
"Faithfully  yours  in  Christ, 

"J.  Cardinal  Gibbons." 

The  one  instance  in  the  United  States  in  which  the 
public  authorities  had  sanctioned  contract  arrangements 
with  religious  bodies  for  instruction  was  in  regard  to  the 
Indian  schools.  Gibbons  had  been  a  zealous  champion 
of  this  plan,  and  when  an  assault  upon  it  was  begun  about 
the  time  when  the  discussion  over  the  Faribault  ques- 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  493 

tion  was  most  acute,  he  girded  himself  for  defense.  When 
President  Grant,  deciding  that  it  was  "better  to  Chris- 
tianize than  to  kill"  inaugurated  his  "peace  policy" 
toward  the  Indians,'^  the  Catholic  Church  and  Protestant 
denominations  were  urged  to  maintain  schools  on  the 
reservations,  the  teachers  and  other  employees,  though  in 
effect  appointed  by  the  various  religious  bodies,  being  put 
on  the  government  payroll.  Later  the  practise  was 
adopted  of  making  formal  contracts  with  church  organ- 
izations conducting  schools  for  the  tuition  and  support 
of  Indian  pupils  who  could  be  induced  to  attend  them. 

Under  this  program  the  government  appropriations  to 
Catholic  Indian  mission  schools  reached  a  maximum  of 
$397,756  in  1892.  The  schools  multiplied  greatly  with 
the  strong  support  of  the  Bureau  of  Catholic  Indian  Mis- 
sions, which  had  been  originated  in  1874  ^Y  Gibbons' 
predecessor,  Bayley.  The  heirs  of  Francis  A.  Drexel,  of 
Philadelphia,  gave  largely  from  their  wealth  to  the  cause, 
and  one  of  them,  Mother  M.  Katherine  Drexel,  conse- 
crated her  life  to  the  welfare  of  the  Indians  and  negroes, 
founding  for  their  especial  benefit  the  missionary  congre- 
gation of  the  Sisters  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament.® 

In  the  arousing  of  hostile  public  sentiment  regarding 
religious  teaching  of  the  Indians  in  government  schools, 
strong  pressure  was  exerted  on  Congress  by  the  "Ameri- 
can Protective  Association"  to  abolish  all  aid  to  sectarian 
schools.  That  organization  was  able  at  one  time  to  com- 
mand considerable  political  influence,  which  had  its  effect 

'  Coolidge,  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  pp.  404-05. 

""Our  Catholic  Indian  Missions,"  a  paper  read  before  the  Catholic 
Missionary  Congress  in  Chicago,  November  i6,  1898,  by  the  Rev. 
William  H.  Ketcham,  director  of  the  Bureau  of  Catholic  Indian  Mis- 
sions. 


494)  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

at  Washington.  Congress  began  in  1895  ^o  curtail  the 
appropriations  for  the  contract  schools,  and  two  years 
later  ^  declared  it  to  be  the  settled  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment "to  make  hereafter  no  appropriation  whatever  for 
education  in  any  sectarian  school."  In  1900  it  made  what 
it  termed  the  "final  appropriation"  for  this  purpose.  The 
Catholic  Bureau,  thus  deprived  of  the  largest  part  of  the 
funds  which  had  sustained  it,  was  unwilling  to  abandon 
its  promising  work  among  the  Indians.  It  continued  to 
support  schools  for  them  by  means  of  funds  obtained 
largely  through  Lenten  collections  in  churches,  and  the 
generosity  of  Mother  Drexel. 

Gibbons  felt  that  a  serious  injustice  had  been  done  to 
the  Indians,  and  determined  not  to  accept  defeat  in  the 
plans  of  the  Church  for  their  welfare.  The  Bureau  of 
Catholic  Indian  Missions  was  incorporated  in  1894,  and 
two  years  later  he  was  elected  its  president,  which  office 
he  continued  long  to  hold.  So  strongly  did  he  feel  on 
the  question  that,  reluctant  though  he  was  to  participate 
in  a  direct  appeal  for  legislation,  he  addressed  a  petition 
to  Congress  December  5,  1898,  in  behalf  of  himself  and 
the  other  Archbishops  of  the  United  States,  urging  that 
the  contract  school  question  be  reopened,  and  that  an 
inquiry  regarding  the  whole  subject  of  Indian  education 
should  be  made  by  Congress.  An  impartial  investigation, 
he  held,  would  show  the  benefits  of  Catholic  Indian  edu- 
cation so  clearly  that  the  political  clouds  which  had  ob- 
scured the  merits  of  the  question  would  be  removed.  The 
system  of  religious  teaching,  he  declared,  was  an  essential 
element  in  the  solution  of  the  Indian  problem — a  system 

•Act  of  June  7,  1897. 


SCHOOL  QUESTION— THE  FARIBAULT  PLAN  495 

which  could  not  be  called  sectarian,  and  yet  actually  put 
the  spirit  of  Christianity  into  the  work  of  the  government 
and  enabled  it  to  use  that  indispensable  factor  in  the  en- 
deavor to  elevate  the  Indians.  He  set  forth  an  outline 
of  the  work  which  the  Church  had  undertaken  for  them, 
the  obstacles  which  it  had  encountered,  and  the  impor- 
tant successes  which  had  been  won,  adding : 

"Certainly  we  are  justified  in  saying  that  the  well- 
informed  on  the  subject  cannot  escape  the  conclusion  that 
the  mission  school  is  better  adapted  to  the  civilization  of 
the  Indian  than  any  other.  In  the  mission  school  are 
engaged  men  and  women  set  apart  for  its  special  work; 
men  and  women  who,  through  noble  inspiration,  have 
chosen  this  field  in  which  to  do  lifework  in  the  cause  of 
humanity  and  to  the  glory  of  God.  They  are  selected 
for  the  work  by  the  several  denominations  employing 
them,  not  only  because  of  their  scholastic  attainments, 
but  also  because  their  devotion  to  the  Christian  religion 
has  been  evidenced  by  the  purity  of  their  lives." 

Even  though  the  congressional  appropriations  were 
withdrawn,  Gibbons  took  the  view  that  appropriations 
for  the  contract  schools  could  still  be  made  out  of  the 
tribal  funds  of  the  Indians,  which  were  their  own  prop- 
erty and  not  public  money  of  the  United  States.  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  accepted  this  solution  after  obtaining 
from  the  Attorney  General  an  opinion  that  it  was  legally 
sound.  He  sanctioned  new  contracts  in  cases  where  the 
Indians  expressed  the  wish  by  petition  to  have  a  por- 
tion of  their  funds  so  used. 

The  storm  of  opposition  sprang  up  anew,  and  a  demand 
was  made  upon  Congress  for  legislation  prohibiting  the 
use  of  tribal   funds  for  the  support  of  any  religious 


496  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

school.  By  this  time,  however,  the  influence  of  the  "A. 
P.  A."  had  waned,  and  Congress  refused  to  be  swayed 
by  the  pressure  which  the  remnant  of  that  organization 
put  forth. 

The  course  of  President  Roosevelt  was  fully  sustained 
by  a  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.'^^  Con- 
gress went  further  and  ordered  a  resumption  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  rations  to  the  children  in  mission  schools, 
which  had  been  withheld  by  the  Indian  office  for  five 
years.  Thus  the  Bureau  of  Indian  Missions,  with  the 
active  support  of  Gibbons,  was  enabled  to  make  a  new 
start,  and  to  prosecute  once  more  with  vigor  a  work 
which  had  seemed  at  one  time  to  be  doomed  to  extinction. 

Among  Americans  of  his  time  no  one  showed  greater 
solicitude  for  justice  and  benevolence  toward  the  In- 
dians than  Gibbons,  nor  devoted  more  consistent  and 
effective  efforts  in  that  direction.  His  unflagging  inter- 
est in  the  subject  was  a  stimulus  to  all  those  in  the  Church 
who  were  engaged  in  missionary  work  among  the  tribes. 
It  seemed  to  him  to  be  unworthy  of  America,  after  the 
Indians  had  parted  from  their  old  religious  creed,  to  leave 
them  adrift  without  any  creed.  Religion,  even  more  than 
education,  he  felt,  was  necessary  to  enable  them  to  work 
out  a  peaceful  destiny  in  the  country  which  their  ances- 
tors had  owned.  He  conceded  to  all  denominations  equal 
rights  in  the  field  of  missionary  labor;  but  the  thought 
was  abhorrent  to  him  that  the  light  of  Christianity  might 
be  shut  off  from  the  school  rooms  in  which  the  young 
Indians  received  from  the  white  race  the  instruction 
which  guided  them  on  the  threshold  of  life. 

"May  1 8,  1908. 


CHAPTER   XXIX 
THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  AMERICANISM 

Unwearied  with  the  combats  which  had  marked  his 
first  few  stormy  years  as  Cardinal,  the  champion  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  America  and  the  champion  of  America 
in  the  Catholic  Church  now  faced  his  greatest  battle.  It 
called  for  all  his  resources  of  skill,  all  the  determination 
and  courage  which  were  so  strong  in  him  when  aroused. 
After  years  of  strife,  he  won  a  sweeping  victory,  over- 
throwing the  well-planned  and  powerfully  supported  ef- 
fort to  introduce  foreign  influences  in  the  Church  here 
which  developed  to  wide  proportions  from  the  Cahensly 
agitation.  This  victory  was  achieved  at  a  time  when  na- 
tionalist influences  from  abroad,  which  enlisted  strong 
support  from  foreign  elements  in  this  country,  were  gath- 
ering impetus  that  might  have  paralyzed  the  arm  of 
America  in  the  World  War  which  was  to  come  had  they 
not  been  checked. 

Had  the  bold  and  clear  reach  of  Gibbons'  vision  been 
unproven  except  for  this,  the  proof  would  have  been 
enough.  In  less  than  two  decades  the  nation  was  racked 
with  alarm  lest  jarring  elements  introduced  by  immigra- 
tion should  cripple  her  when  she  was  called  to  the  con- 
flict in  which  civilization  was  engulfed;  that  she  was 
not  thus  thwarted  in  her  national  destiny  was  due,  in 
great  part,  to  influences  which  Gibbons  had  set  in  mo- 

497 


498  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

tion  long  before,  and  which  produced  the  effect  that  he 
had  foreseen  with  inspiration  nothing  short  of  prophetic. 

The  issue  came  to  be  known  as  Americanism  when  the 
conflict  was  at  its  height  in  the  years  1890-93.  Its  origin 
was  in  the  "Cahensly  question,"  so  called  from  Peter 
Cahensly,  a  German,  the  secretary  of  the  Archangel  Ra- 
phael Society  for  the  protection  of  German  emigrants. 
In  its  beginnings  that  society  had  as  its  purpose  only  the 
laudable  one  of  promoting  the  spiritual  welfare  of  set- 
tlers in  foreign  countries;  but  fears  quickly  arose  when 
it  broadened  its  scope,  as  Pan-German  influences  took 
possession  of  it,  to  include  the  preservation  of  the  na- 
tionality and  language  of  those  who  emigrated  from 
Europe.  Its  larger  policies  and  efforts  soon  came  to  re- 
flect the  militant  Teutonic  spirit  which  was  then  begin- 
ning to  sweep  like  a  great  gust  through  the  German  and 
Austrian  empires  and  out  into  the  United  States,  Brazil, 
Argentina  and  every  other  country  where  Germans  went 
from  native  town  or  farm  to  begin  life  anew,  or  to  ex- 
pand the  vast  trade  that  streamed  from  German  factories. 
Germans  were  pouring  at  the  rate  of  400,000  a  year  into 
the  Americas,  Africa  and  even  Asia. 

The  world,  which  learned  at  the  cost  of  the  greatest 
war  men  ever  fought  the  meaning  and  power  of  Pan- 
Germanism,  was  oblivious  of  or  indifferent  to  its  potency 
in  1890.  Beneath  its  professed  object  of  spreading  and 
consolidating  everywhere  Teutonic  ideals  of  character, 
and  culture,  most  observers  discerned  but  dimly  the  com- 
mercial ends  that  were  sought  by  its  leaders  and  gave 
scarcely  a  thought  to  the  political  ends.  Least  of  all  was 
there  serious  disquietude  in  the  United  States,  whose 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  AMERICANISM        499 

people  cherished  a  serene  reliance  upon  their  powers  of 
national  assimilation,  believing  that  the  tide  of  immigra- 
tion, high  as  it  was,  would  soon  be  lost  in  the  placid 
waters  of  American  unity. 

Though  Germans  were  the  originators  of  the  Cahensly 
movement,  its  daring  captains  seized  the  opportunity  to 
promote  their  ends  by  alliances  with  Italians,  Poles, 
Frenchmen  and  other  elements  in  the  national  groups 
that  were  flocking  to  America.  These  efforts,  misunder- 
stood in  their  full  bearing  outside  of  Germany,  were  by 
no  means  lacking  in  substantial  success.  In  Italy  the 
Marchese  Volpi  Landi  championed  the  cause,  and  in 
France  strong  support  in  leadership  was  obtained  from 
Abbe  Villeneuve. 

Organizations  of  German  immigrants  or  their  immedi- 
ate descendants  were  then  thickly  scattered  throughout 
the  cities  and  towns  of  the  United  States,  and  were  mul- 
tiplying as  new  hundreds  of  thousands  from  their  father- 
land swept  in  each  year  with  the  flow  of  immigration. 
They  gave  strong  support  to  the  religious  and  charitable 
objects  which  the  Cahenslyites  set  forth  as  the  chief 
causes  of  their  solicitude. 

The  Catholic  Church  was  now  the  spiritual  mother  of 
by  far  the  greater  number  of  the  newcomers  from  con- 
tinental Europe.  There  had  been  an  abatement  in  the 
Lutheran  exodus  from  Prussia,  and  most  of  the  Germans 
who  were  arriving  were  from  the  Rhineland,  Bavaria, 
Wiirttemberg  and  other  portions  of  the  Empire  of  the 
Kaiser  in  which  the  Catholic  Church  was  strongest  nu- 
merically. Cahenslyism,  founded  in  close  alliance  with 
Church  influences  in  Germany,  had  recruited  active  and 


600  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

widespread  support  from  clergy  in  that  country,  the  mass 
of  whom  were  moved  by  the  appeal  to  their  natural  sym- 
pathies in  behalf  of  persons  facing  the  hazards  of  life  in 
distant  countries,  and  were  unaware  of  the  sinister  prop- 
aganda of  international  politics  which  was  masked  be- 
neath the  cloak  of  disinterested  help. 

The  need  of  exceptional  means  to  provide  spiritual 
care  for  the  immigrants  had  been  fully  realized  by  the 
Church  in  America,  and  the  Third  Plenary  Council  of 
Baltimore  had  made  provisions  for  it  which  had  been 
carried  out  with  vigilance.  As  soon  as  immigrants  ar- 
rived they  were  sought  out  by  priests  in  the  parishes 
where  they  happened  to  go  and  who  spoke  their  own 
languages.  They  were  quickly  absorbed  in  existing 
parishes,  or  new  ones  were  erected,  where,  during  the  early 
period  of  their  residence  in  America,  they  might  receive 
the  ministrations  of  the  Church  in  their  own  tongues  and 
send  their  children  to  schools  where  the  common  speech 
would  be  that  with  which  they  were  familiar. 

As  they  showed  a  disposition  to  align  themselves  with 
other  parishes  in  which  the  language  used  was  English, 
and  as  their  improvement  in  material  means  caused  them 
to  change  to  different  homes,  many  of  them  lost  identifi- 
cation with  purely  foreign  groupings.  In  some  dioceses 
where  the  number  of  priests  and  parishioners  of  foreign 
birth  was  unusually  large,  however,  little  or  no  inclina- 
tion was  shown  to  divert  the  immigrants  to  English 
speaking  parishes;  in  certain  jurisdictions,  indeed,  the 
disposition  was  to  preserve  their  national  alignments  and 
distinctions  of  language  as  long  as  possible.  There  being 
no  rigid  rule  to  follow  in  regard  to  this,  the  result  was 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  AMERICANISM        501 

that  when  immigration  approached  the  rate  of  1,000,000 
a  year  many  hundreds  of  new  parishes  sprang  up  in  the 
United  States  in  which  the  language  used  in  church  was 
German,  Polish,  Italian  or  some  other  than  English. 

Emboldened  by  success,  the  Cahenslyites  at  an  inter- 
national congress  held  at  Lucerne  in  December,  1890, 
decided  to  address  a  memorial  to  the  Holy  See  appealing 
in  behalf  of  their  cause.  The  memorial  began  by  em- 
phasizing one  of  their  much  favored  arguments,  that  the 
losses  which  the  Church  had  sustained  in  the  United 
States  amounted  to  more  than  10,000,000,  caused  by 
immigrants  and  their  descendants  falling  away  from  the 
faith,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Gibbons  and  other 
American  prelates  rejected  this  statement  as  a  gross 
exaggeration.  As  a  remedy,  the  society  proposed  the 
systematic  formation  of  immigrants  into  separate  par- 
ishes, congregations  or  missions  according  to  nationality 
and  that  the  direction  of  these  parishes  should  be  con- 
fided to  priests  of  the  same  nationalities.  "In  this  wise," 
the  memorial  set  forth,  "the  sweetest  and  most  cherished 
relations  of  the  fatherland  would  be  constantly  brought 
to  the  emigrants,  who  would  love  the  Church  all  the 
more  for  procuring  for  them  these  benefits." 

In  parts  of  the  country  where  immigrants  of  different 
nationalities  had  settled  in  numbers  too  limited  to  form 
a  separate  parish  for  each  group,  the  memorial  asked  that 
priests  should  be  appointed  for  the  care  of  groups  who 
would  use  in  their  ministrations  the  distinctive  tongues 
to  which  the  parishioners  had  been  accustomed.  One  of 
the  most  urgent  recommendations  was  that  ample  provi- 
sion be  made  that  in  parochial  schools  the  instruction  be 


502  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

given  in  the  native  languages  of  the  parents.  The  or- 
ganization of  Catholic  societies  founded  upon  nationality 
was  advised.    There  were  already  many  such. 

The  main  demand  of  those  in  America,  as  well  as  in 
Europe,  who  led  the  Cahensly  movement,  was  that 
Bishops  be  appointed  by  nationalities  according  to  popu- 
lation; if,  for  instance,  the  Germans  formed  one  sixth 
of  the  Catholic  population,  it  was  desired  that  one  sixth 
of  the  Bishops  should  be  chosen  from  those  who  spoke 
the  German  language  and  would  use  it  in  the  transaction 
of  their  official  duties.  The  memorial  summed  up  the 
matter  in  this  wise : 

"It  would  be  most  desirable  that,  as  often  as  might  be 
judged  feasible,  the  Catholics  of  every  nationality  should 
have  in  the  episcopate  of  the  country  to  which  they  have 
emigrated  some  Bishops  of  their  own  race.  It  seems  that 
such  an  organization  of  the  Church  would  be  perfect. 
Every  different  nationality  of  emigrants  would  be  rep- 
resented, and  their  respective  interests  and  needs  pro- 
tected or  cared  for  at  the  meeting  of  the  Bishops  in 
council." 

In  conclusion,  the  memorial  besought  special  protec- 
tion for  the  seminaries  and  other  schools  that  had  been 
instituted  in  Europe  for  the  education  of  missionaries  to 
work  among  the  emigrants.  Special  favor  for  the  Arch- 
angel Raphael  Society  was  invoked,  and  the  Pope  was 
urged  to  appoint  a  Cardinal  Protector  as  a  guardian  for 
it.^ 

This  was  followed  by  another  memorial  presented  by 

*Reily,  Collections  in  the  Life  and  Times  of  Cardinal  Gibbons,  Vol. 
Ill,  Part  3,  pp.  7-9. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  AMERICANISM        503 

the  Archangel  Raphael  Society  to  Leo  XIII  in  June, 
1891,  setting  forth  the  demands  of  the  Cahensly  element 
with  even  more  vigor  and  with  considerable  amplifica- 
tion of  argument.  It  was  declared  that  "the  current 
which  is  carrying  away  to  America  populations  of  dif- 
ferent nationalities  is  already  formidable;  in  the  future 
it  is  likely  to  become  irresistible."  Statistics  were  pre- 
sented purportng  to  show  that  439,400  Catholics  had  left 
Europe  for  the  American  continent  in  the  year  1889, 
and  that  of  these  178,900  had  gone  to  the  United  States. 

With  a  touch  of  exaggeration  not  unusual  in  various 
processes  of  estimating  elements  of  foreign  nationality  in 
America,  it  was  declared  that  calculations  based  upon 
authoritative  statistics  showed  that  Catholic  immigrants 
and  their  children  ought  to  constitute  in  the  country  a 
population  of  26,000,000,  though  the  number  of  Catho- 
lics in  the  United  States  did  not  then  much  exceed  10,- 
000,000.  "Catholicity,  therefore,"  the  memorial  set 
forth,  "has  sustained  up  to  the  present  date  a  loss  of 
16,000,000  in  the  great  American  republic." 

Causes  for  the  desertion  of  their  faith  by  Catholics 
were  thus  enumerated :  Lack  of  adequate  protection  for 
the  immigrants  during  their  voyages  and  on  their  arrival 
in  the  United  States;  insufficiency  of  priests  and  par- 
ishes of  their  own  nationalities;  pecuniary  sacrifices — 
"often  exorbitant" — that  were  exacted  of  the  faithful; 
the  public  schools;  insufficiency  of  Catholic  societies 
based  upon  nationality  and  language,  and  lack  of  repre- 
sentation for  different  nationalities  of  immigrants  in  the. 
episcopate.  The  novel  view  was  set  forth  that  immi- 
grants who  forgot  their  native  languages  also  forgot  their 


604.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

religion.      Regarding    the    all-important    question    of 
Bishops,  the  memorial  declared: 

"Bishops  who  are  strangers  to  the  spirit,  character, 
habits  and  customs  of  other  nations  cannot  in  the  re- 
quired measure,  despite  their  virtues,  knowledge  and  zeal, 
appreciate  and  effectually  attend  to  the  wants  of  these 
nations.  Again,  the  harmony  and  concord  between  the 
different  nationalities  are  affected.  If  the  episcopate  be 
handed  over  almost  exclusively  to  one  nationality  to  the 
detriment  of  others,  a  feeling  of  uneasiness,  of  general 
discontent  is  created  among  these  last — a  feeling  which 
assumes  the  proportion  of  disastrous  international  rival- 
ries. It  is  desired  that  concord  and  harmony  should 
reign  among  the  different  nations  that  go  to  make  up 
the  Church  in  the  United  States.  Nothing  is  more  de- 
sirable; nothing  more  essential.  The  only  way  to  attain 
this  end  is  to  give  to  every  one  of  these  nations  Bishops 
of  their  own,  who  will  represent  their  respective  nations 
in  the  episcopal  body,  just  as  those  nations  are  repre- 
sented among  the  parochial  clergy  and  among  the  faith- 
fuL"  ^ 

As  early  as  1884,  before  Gibbons  had  been  elevated  to 
the  cardinalate,  the  subject  of  Church  care  for  the  immi- 
grants arriving  in  this  country  had  been  much  discussed 
at  Rome.  This  is  indicated  by  an  entry  in  his  journal  as 
follows: 

"April  4  [1884].  I  wrote  to  Cardinal  Simeoni,  in 
reply  to  his  letter  asking  what  was  the  best  means  to  be 
employed  in  bettering  the  moral  and  material  condition 
of  emigrants  coming  to  this  country.  Many  emigrants, 
especially  French  and  Italian,  suffer  from  ignorance  of 

'Reily,  Vol.  Ill,  Part  3,  pp.  9-13. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  AMERICANISM        505 

our  language,  but  they  have  always  the  means  of  im- 
proving their  condition  if  they  are  industrious.  Their 
spiritual  wants  are  now  better  provided  for  than  for- 
merly, owing  to  increase  of  churches  and  priests.  I  will 
refer  his  letter  to  the  Council"  [The  Third  Plenary 
Council  of  Baltimore]. 

In  the  swelling  volume  of  their  public  agitation,  as 
well  as  in  their  pleas  to  Rome,  the  Cahenslyites  were 
careful  to  base  their  main  arguments  upon  the  need  of 
special  spiritual  care  for  immigrants,  which  no  one  in  the 
Church  was  disposed  to  deny.  But  the  only  way  to  jus- 
tify their  general  program,  which  reached  far  beyond 
that,  was  to  justify  the  rending  of  America  into  different 
language  groups,  such  as  existed  in  the  Austrian  empire 
as  then  constituted. 

One  of  the  main  concerns  of  each  group,  if  the  Cahen- 
sly  basis  of  representation  in  the  Hierarchy  were  adopted, 
would  inevitably  be  to  preserve  a  tireless  vigilance  that 
would  assure  the  selection  of  a  number  of  Bishops  ade- 
quate to  the  supposed  strength  of  each  element.  Thus 
the  primary  question  when  a  Bishop  was  to  be  appointed 
would  be  his  language  and  perhaps  the  vehemence  with 
which  he  stood  for  all  the  varied  and  perhaps  conflicting 
aspirations  of  his  national  group,  i.  e.,  with  which  he 
stood  in  the  way  of  the  Americanization  of  foreigners. 
This  would  lead  to  popular  agitation  over  the  selection 
of  Bishops,  a  thing  which  Rome  had  never  countenanced 
and  could  not  be  induced  to  countenance. 

Gibbons  believed  that  in  the  episcopate  nationalist 
Bishops,  if  appointed,  would  tend  to  form  groups  which 
would  of  necessity  be  more  or  less  antagonistic  to  the 


606  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

American  Bishops.  This  would  produce  endless  discord 
and  arrest  the  growth  of  the  Church. 

In  its  wider  aspects  he  regarded  the  whole  movement  as 
an  open  conflict  with  the  general  plan  of  American  assim- 
ilation of  foreigners.  He  had  a  deep  conviction,  which 
he  freely  expressed,  that  America  could  settle  her  own 
internal  problems  as  they  arose,  including  the  problem  of 
constitutional  evolution,  if  her  national  destiny  were  not 
diverted  from  the  path  on  which  she  had  set  out.  The 
danger  of  the  introduction  of  foreign  influences  from 
the  unprecedented  flow  of  immigrants  who  arrived  in 
the  last  two  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  up  to 
the  time  of  the  World  War,  he  regarded  as  one  of  most 
ominous  potentiality  as  a  possible  cause  of  such  diversion. 
No  other  nation  had  ever  assimilated  such  a  mass, 
and  he  was  well  aware  that  in  the  past  the  tendency  of 
such  movements,  even  on  a  scale  less  imposing  in  num- 
bers, had  been  to  submerge  the  people  into  which  the 
new  waves  swept. 

None  deplored  more  than  he  the  introduction,  so  far 
as  it  had  already  gone,  of  foreign  nationalism  into 
American  politics,  and  he  was  resolved  that  no  influence 
of  his  own  should  be  wanting  to  resist  that  tendency. 
Class  voting  of  any  kind  seemed  to  him  to  be  the  nega- 
tion of  everything  American.  He  considered  that  the 
national  safety  was  directly  dependent  upon  the  citizen 
casting  his  ballot  swayed  by  regard  for  the  greatest  good 
to  the  greatest  number,  and  ignoring  class  interests;  even 
more,  that  the  citizen  must  be  ready  at  times  to  sacrifice 
his  personal  interests  for  the  general  benefit  and,  above 
all,  for  principle. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  AMERICANISM        507 

A  broad  nationalist  at  heart,  he  wished  loyalty  to 
America  to  be  the  same  in  Oregon  and  in  Florida — 
wherever  the  flag  floated.  He  knew  that  the  peoples 
crowding  in  from  abroad  were  bringing  different  political 
ideas,  some  of  them  grotesque,  others  full  of  harm,  born 
of  class  hate  or  of  shallow  and  impractical  theories.  The 
tenacious  possession  of  these  jarring  and  destructive 
views,  proceeding  from  lack  of  experience  or  imperfect 
experience  in  democratic  government  by  peoples  of  con- 
tinental Europe,  appeared  to  him  to  contain  possibilities 
of  evil,  of  which  the  American  people  should  be  espe- 
cially watchful. 

He  was  determined  that  the  Church  in  this  country 
should  continue  homogeneous,  like  the  nation.  If  the 
discord  of  rival  nationalist  aims  were  definitely  intro- 
duced, his  work  would  go  down  in  wreck.  He  was  firmly 
convinced  that  nationalist  groups  in  the  Church  would 
tend  to  become  political  elements.  Factions  would  en- 
tangle her  in  whatever  direction  she  might  turn.  The 
defeated  side  in  a  contest  over  a  bishopric  for  a  foreign 
constituency  would  be  resentful  and  might  resort  to  re- 
prisals, perhaps  by  combination  with  a  different  group. 
The  American  Bishops  would  thus  be  beset  with  pleas  and 
harassed  by  pressure  to  align  themselves  with  one  group 
or  another,  and  complications  all  but  insoluble  might 
ensue. 

One  of  the  stanchest  convictions  to  which  he  adhered 
throughout  his  life  was  that  homogeneity  in  America  was 
a  fundamental  need  in  the  absence  of  a  repressive  gov- 
ernment which  might  maintain  unity  by  force.  A  demo- 
cratic regime  could  not  be  permanent  when  racked  by 


508  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ceaseless  discord  proceeding  from  causes  other  than  dif- 
ferences of  view  upon  legitimate  subjects  of  legislation 
and  general  policy.  No  one  welcomed  immigrants  here 
more  warmly  than  he  did,  and  he  went  on  record  in  a 
letter  which  was  presented  to  Congress  against  excluding 
aliens  who  were  not  able  to  read  and  write.  He  wel- 
comed, however,  only  those  who  were  willing  to  become 
Americans.  Those  who  cherished  a  secret  hope  or  aim  of 
upsetting  the  government,  or  crowding  it  out  of  its  natu- 
ral line  of  evolution,  were  out  of  place  here. 

A  long-time  student  of  the  Constitution  and  of  the 
debates  which  had  marked  its  birth  in  1787,  Gibbons  held 
a  deep  conviction  that  it  was  based  upon  the  soundest  of 
views  and  upon  matured  political  experience.  On  one 
occasion,  he  said  that  if  he  had  the  privilege  of  modify- 
ing the  Constitution  he  would  not  expunge  or  alter  a 
single  word  of  it.^  Realizing  that  there  had  been  periods 
when  it  had  undergone  severe  tests,  and  even  when  large 
numbers  of  his  fellow-countrymen  had  been  disposed  to 
doubt  the  permanency  of  its  value,  he  felt  that  it  had 
been  conceived  with  great  insight  into  the  future,  and  that 
the  stability  of  the  country  was  bound  up  with  its  contin- 
ued existence,  unchanged  in  essentials.  That  the  bless- 
ings which  it  had  brought — greater  blessings,  to  his  mind, 
than  had  flowed  from  any  other  political  instrument  of 
modern  times — should  be  lost  or  even  imperiled  by  a 
sudden  wave  of  immigration  was  an  abhorrent  thought  to 
him. 

American  liberty  was  the  offset  to  the  confusion  of 
political  ideas  which  the  immigrants  were  bringing,  no 

•Sermon  at  the  Catholic  University,  January,  1897. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  AMERICANISM        609 

less  marked  than  the  confusion  of  their  tongues.  They 
must  receive  an  opportunity  to  understand  America  be- 
fore they  passed  sweeping  judgment  upon  the  merits  or 
demerits  of  its  system  of  government.  Many  evils  which 
they  had  resented  abroad  did  not  exist  here,  but  having 
been  accustomed  to  them  in  their  former  homes,  compre- 
hension broke  upon  them  slowly  that  the  same  evils  were 
absent  in  the  new  country  to  which  they  had  come. 

Gibbons  regarded  conditions  in  many  parts  of  Europe 
at  that  time  as  distinctly  unstable,  or  possessing  the  seeds 
of  instability.  He  would  resist  the  transplanting  of  such 
seeds  to  these  shores.  His  faith  was  unshaken  that 
America,  for  all  the  looseness  of  government  which  Euro- 
pean critics  saw  exemplified  here,  could  withstand  a  shock 
which  would  rend  almost  any  nation  of  Europe.  The 
State  system  he  regarded  as  providential,  although  well 
aware  that  it  was  based  upon  historical  causes  which  ante- 
dated the  Revolution,  and  that  it  was  incorporated  into 
the  Constitution  from  the  impact  of  political  necessity. 
He  expressed  the  view  that  the  States  were  like  the  com- 
partments of  a  ship,  assuring  safety  in  storms;  for  even 
though  one  or  more  of  them  might  become  impaired,  the 
ship  would  not  sink. 

Knowing  well  the  purposes  of  Leo  XIII,  he  felt  as- 
sured from  the  beginning  that  Rome  would  countenance 
no  assault,  open  or  covert,  upon  the  system  of  govern- 
ment in  America.  Leo  had  not  only  recognized  the  lib- 
erality of  the  political  institutions  here,  but  had  wel- 
comed the  great  benefits  which  the  Catholic  Church  de- 
rived from  them.  True,  like  other  doctors  of  the  Church 
holding  the  ancient  faith,  he  did  not  teach  that  the  status 


610  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of  the  Church  here  was  the  .most  desirable  for  every  coun- 
try, and  in  his  encyclical  'letter  on  "Catholicity  in  the 
United  States,"  declared  that  it  would  be  "very  errone- 
ous" to  draw  the  conclusion  that  "it  would  be  universally 
lawful  or  expedient  for  State  and  Church  to  be,  as  in 
America,  dissevered  and  divorced.  .  .  .  She  would  bring 
forth  more  abundant  fruits  if,  in  addition  to  liberty,  she 
enjoyed  the  favor  of  the  laws  and  the  patronage  of  the 
public  authority."  *  This  was  far  from  saying  that  he 
had  any  aim  to  disturb  the  system  in  existence  here,  for 
throughout  his  Pontificate  he  gave  no  sign  of  such  an  aim. 

It  would  have  crushed  Gibbons  if,  while  the  Church 
was  advancing  so  fast  in  America,  she  had  been  diverted 
into  side  paths  from  her  journey  on  the  main  road.  Har- 
mony was  essential  to  her,  and  never  more  so  than  at  that 
period;  Cahenslyism  meant  a  direct  assault  on  that  har- 
mony. The  constant  rivalries  which  it  invited  would 
beget  new  ones.  Never  were. Bishops  in  this  country  more 
harmonious  than  during  the  long  period  of  Gibbons'  car- 
dinalate.  The  great  majority  of  them  not  only  upheld 
his  policies,  but  followed  his  lead  with  an  enthusiasm 
comparable  to  that  with  which  the  marshals  of  the  first 
French  empire  followed  their  chief. 

The  political  authorities  of  the  United  States  were 
full  of  misgivings  over  the  progress  of  the  Cahensly  agi- 
tation, and  Gibbons  was  distressed  to  observe  that  they 
saw  a  disconcerting  problem  for  the  State  which  origi- 
nated with  the  Church.  To  his  mind,  the  problem  was 
in  its  essence  substantially  the  same  for  both.  If  some 
permanent  force  were  to  be  set  up  that  would  arrest  the 

*  Wynne,   The  Great  Encyclical  Letters  of  Leo  XIIl,  pp.  323-324. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  AMERICANISM        511 

assimilation  of  the  immigrants  who  were  then  arriving 
in  such  great  numbers,  every  political  party  would  be  at 
the  mercy  of  such  elements,  as  well  as  the  government  of 
the  Church.  If  she,  as  the  one  influence  whose  weight  was 
decisive  with  the  largest  group  of  them,  cooperated  in 
their  Americanization,  they  would  be  Americanized;  if 
she  did  not,  the  prospect  would  be  dark  indeed. 

All  the  patriotic  professions  of  Gibbons,  Ireland,  Ryan, 
Williams  and  other  leaders  of  the  Hierarchy  in  those 
days  were  being  weighed  in  the  balance.  They  could  hot 
submit  to  being  convicted  of  impotency  in  deeds  when 
their  words  were  put  to  the  test.  Their  backs  were  to  the 
wall.  They  must  fight  for  Church  and  country  as  they 
had  fought  before.  They  could  not  contemplate  an 
America  that  would  be  a  suzerain  of  warring  clans,  in- 
flamed by  jealousies  that  would  tend  to  disrupt  the 
Church  government,  as  well  as  the  civil  government.  The 
peace  and  unity  of  one  were  the  peace  and  unity  of  the 
other.  What  the  Cahenslyites  would  sow,  they  would 
reap.  The  Church  could  not  hope  to  gather  figs  from 
thistles. 

Gibbons  greatly  deprecated  the  traces  of  direct  nation- 
alist emnities  which  crept  into  the  controversy.  He 
wished  the  debate  to  proceed  along  the  lines  of  affirma- 
tive argument,  rather  than  negative;  he  wished  it  to  be 
constructive,  and  deplored  that  at  times  it  tended  to 
become  destructive.  As  he  never  spoke  in  reproach  of 
non-Catholics,  least  of  all  did  he  wish  to  speak  in  re- 
proach of  elements  within  the  Church. 

It  was  only  natural  that  some  of  his  lieutenants  were 
not  able  to  exemplify  at  all  times  the  exceptional  breadth 


512  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

of  their  leader's  charity.  Charges  and  counter-charges 
were  made  and  answered  and  the  recriminations  were  a 
foretaste  of  what  Cahenslyism  might  bring.  A  multi- 
tude of  animosities  awoke  which  Gibbons  had  wished  to 
remain  in  perpetual  somnolence. 

Leaders  on  both  sides  were  soon  conducting  rival  cam- 
paigns in  Rome.  As  the  stronghold  of  Cahenslyism  was 
in  Europe,  that  cause  naturally  had  a  larger  continuous 
representation  at  the  seat  of  the  Church's  government 
than  its  pronounced  foes.  Its  defenders  included  men  of 
ability,  skill  and  diplomatic  tact,  who  left  no  method 
untried  in  the  pursuit  of  the  object  for  which  thev  had 
resolutely  set  out. 

Their  nationalist  aims  were  kept  in  the  background  as 
far  as  they  could  do  so.  It  seems  clear  that  these  aims 
were  not  known  at  first  by  the  Cardinals  in  Rome  whom 
they  tried  to  win  over  to  their  side;  certainly  not  by  most 
of  the  European  priests  whom  they  persuaded  to  lend 
help  to  them.  Only  the  World  War  disclosed  these  influ- 
ences fully,  but  Gibbons'  acts  and  words  left  no  doubt 
that  he  saw  them  in  advance. 

The  question  arises,  in  view  of  the  unmasking  of  inter- 
national intrigue  in  the  World  War,  was  not  the  Cahen- 
sly  movement  craftily  fomented  by  the  German  secret 
propaganda  service?  It  was  easy  to  defend  in  1890  by 
appealing  to  general  sympathy  for  immigrants.  Many 
persons  of  German  birth  had  no  idea  that  it  served  politi- 
cal ends,  or  even  that  it  could  be  made  to  do  so.  The 
American  government  and  people  passed  decisive  judg- 
ment in  the  great  war  that  the  persistence  of  nationalist 
groupinfzs  disturbed  the  unity  of  the  United  States  by 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  AMERICANISM        513 

leading  to  the  formation  of  opinion  on  American  ques- 
tions from  the  background  of  European  predilections  or 
antipathies. 

It  was  not  true  that  the  mass  of  Germans  or  of  any 
other  foreign  nationality  in  America  was  included  in  the 
Cahensly  movement.  Many  of  these  were  distinctly  op- 
posed to  it,  wishing  to  cast  their  lot  unreservedly  with 
the  country  of  their  adoption;  it  is  probably  true  that 
most  of  them  were  wholly  indifferent  to  the  subject, 
though  many  of  their  leaders  were  active,  and  in  not  a 
few  cases  aggressive  in  the  cause. 

The  press  in  Germany  became  aroused  on  the  issue, 
whether  or  not  from  government  inspiration  is  unknown. 
A  correspondent  of  the  Frankfurter  Zeitung  interviewed 
Gibbons  in  Baltimore,  and  to  him  the  American  prelate 
spoke  firmly  and  clearly,  saying : 

"Some  people  in  America  and  elsewhere  seem  not  to 
understand  that  the  Americans  are  striving  for  develop- 
ing into  one  great  nationality;  just  as  Germany  has  de- 
veloped into  one  national  union  by  a  struggle  of  many 
years'  duration,  so  we  are  striving  in  the  States  for  a 
certain  homegeneity  whose  outward  expression  consists 
in  the  possession  of  one  common  language,  the  English. 
This  explains  the  propaganda  for  one  language,  the  Eng- 
lish tongue,  in  the  Catholic  Church  of  North  America. 

"There  is  no  thought  of  violating  the  love  of  the  old 
fatherland — a  sacred  feeling.  The  Germans  in  America 
are  handicapped;  without  the  knowledge  of  English,  they 
are  socially  at  a  disadvantage;  only  in  agricultural  cen- 
ters the  German  is  preserved  pure.  The  Germans  are 
shining  examples  of  industry,  energy,  love  of  home,  con- 
servatism, and  attachment  to  their  religion.  They  are 
beginning  to  comprehend  that  it  is  impossible  to  stem  the 


514.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

course  of  natural  evolution.  For  some  time  I  have  been 
in  possession  of  petitions  from  German  clergymen  de- 
siring the  introduction  of  the  English  language. 

"The  transition  from  German  to  English  will  neces- 
sarily be  gradual,  and  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  and 
needs  of  the  people  concerned.  What  Germany  herself 
does  in  this  respect  to  solidify  her  union  by  a  common 
language,  no  German  will  think  wrong  when  applied  in 
advancing  the  homogeneity  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States." 


Gibbons  was  moved  the  more  profoundly  in  regard  to 
Cahenslyism  because  he  knew  the  real  thought  in  the 
minds  of  many  non-Catholic  Americans  that  impeded  the 
progress  of  the  Church  more  than  any  other  thought.  As 
this  thought  found  voice  from  those  who  held  it,  or  re- 
mained imspoken  and  dormant,  it  was  that  the  purposes 
of  the  Church  were  anti-American  or  at  best  inter- 
national; and  that  some  of  these  purposes  were  political. 
He  had  thrown  himself  without  reserve  into  a  battle  of 
years  to  dispel  this  impression,  which  he  rejected  from 
the  depths  of  his  soul  as  a  cruel  error.  If  he  could  not 
stifle  it,  if  he  could  not  prove  it  false,  he  felt  that  he 
would  be  remiss  in  his  duty  to  God  and  country.  The 
greatest  advances  which  he  had  made  had  been  against 
this  powerful  salient  in  the  fortress  of  opposition. 

His  was  never  a  passive  character.  Motion,  progress, 
accomplishment  were  the  breath  of  life  to  him.  If  he 
could  not  stand  still,  least  of  all  would  or  could  he  go 
backward.  To  have  color  lent  to  the  view  that  foreign 
influences  were  active  in  the  Church,  except  in  the  uni- 
versal sense  of  a  world-wide  unity  of  faith,  would  have 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  AMERICANISM        515 

broken  his  highest  hopes,  and  this  appeared  to  him  to  be 
the  real  result  toward  which  Cahenslyism  was  heedlessly 
rushing.  Masked  under  the  appealing  guise  of  solicitude 
for  the  religious  needs  of  immigrants  set  down  suddenly 
among  strangers  to  begin  life  anew,  he  saw  the  frowning 
face  of  foreign  nationalism,  convulsed  with  mad  designs 
against  his  beloved  America. 

No  opinion  that  he  held  was  more  firmly  implanted 
than  that  there  could  be  no  divided  allegiance  in  this 
country;  the  Catholic  was  either  an  American  or  a  for- 
eigner. If  an  American,  he  must  be  an  American  in 
every  sense  and  cast  his  lot  without  reserve  among  the 
people  who  were  his  fellow-citizens.  Apart  from  the 
public  policy  of  this,  apart  from  the  broadminded  wis- 
dom which  inspired  it,  it  comported  with  Gibbons'  own 
aspirations  as  a  man  and  as  a  citizen. 

In  general  perspective,  he  regarded  the  institutions  of 
his  country  as  the  best  in  the  world.  With  sorrow  he 
saw  them  sometimes  perverted  to  base  uses ;  and  when  the 
occasion  presented  itself,  he  never  failed  to  raise  his  voice 
against  abuses  that  crept  into  the  body  politic,  whether 
the  cause  which  he  espoused  happened  to  be  popular  or 
unpopular.  He  knew  the  dangers  of  democratic  govern- 
ment ;  but  he  also  knew  the  perils  of  less  liberal  systems. 
In  the  atmosphere  of  political  freedom  he  found  the  best 
final  solution  for  all  merely  material  questions  which 
affected  mankind.  He  maintained  that  the  duty  of  the 
Catholic,  which  was  nothing  more  or  less  than  the  duty 
of  any  other  citizen,  was  to  identify  himself  without 
thought  of  religious  discrimination  with  all  that  con- 
cerned the  best  that  was  in  American  institutions,  setting 


516  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

his  face  firmly  against  corruption,  the  evils  of  partisan 
politics,  economic  wrong  and  social  disorder. 

Foreigners  who  came  to  these  shores  he  welcomed  as 
Catholics,  if  they  happened  to  be  such;  but,  at  all  events, 
as  Americans  of  the  future ;  men  of  the  same  origin  either 
directly  or  remotely  as  others  who  had  helped  to  populate 
the  country;  men  who  would  in  time  share  in  the  respon- 
sibilities, the  burdens,  the  rewards  of  citizenship,  and 
become  as  thorough  upholders  of  the  American  idea  as 
were  those  whose  ancestors  had  come  earlier  from  the 
Old  World  to  seek  better  opportunities  in  the  new.  In 
the  spiritual  and  moral  natures  of  Catholics,  as  developed 
by  the  ministrations  of  the  Church,  he  saw  fruitful  soil 
for  the  flower  of  unselfish  patriotism. 


CHAPTER  XXX 
FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE 

Exaggeration  clouded  the  real  extent  of  the  support 
which  Cahensl5dsm  received  in  America;  but  even  allow- 
ing for  this,  it  was  undoubtedly  large.  The  most  active 
spokesman  of  the  American  Cahenslyites  in  Rome  in  the 
early  stages  of  the  struggle  was  the  Rev.  P.  M.  Abbelen, 
Vicar-General  of  the  diocese  of  Milwaukee,  who  sub- 
mitted to  the  Propaganda,  as  early  as  1886,  a  pamphlet 
in  which  he  presented  their  case.  Abbelen  went  to  Rome 
fortified  with  a  letter  of  general  commendation  from 
Cardinal  Gibbons,  who  did  not  know  that  a  part  of  his 
mission  was  to  appeal  in  behalf  of  retaining  the  nation- 
alities of  immigrant  Catholics  in  America. 

Gibbons  was  soon  awake  to  the  truth.  His  mind 
grasped  not  only  the  full  force  of  what  was  being  at- 
tempted at  the  time,  but  the  immensely  greater  bearings 
which  it  might  have  upon  the  future  of  the  Church  in 
this  country  and  upon  the  country  itself. 

The  Germans  would  have  been  elated  to  obtain  his 

assistance  in  behalf  of  Cahenslyism.     Throughout  their 

agitation  most  of  them  spoke  of  him  with  respect  and 

even  filial  affection,  because  his  conduct  in  the  diocese 

of  Baltimore  had  been  such  as  to  remove  any  ground  for 

charges  of  discrimination  on  account  of  nationality.    The 

517 


618  LITE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

largest  congregation  in  the  city  ^  was  German,  presided 
over  by  Redemptorist  Fathers  who  conducted  their  minis- 
trations in  that  language.  There  were  admirable  church 
facilities  for  all  German  immigrants  who  arrived  in  the 
diocese  to  be  instructed  in  their  own  tongue  at  first. 
Poles,  Bohemians  and  other  nationalities  were  similarly 
provided  for.  The  Cardinal  frequently  visited  these 
churches  and  cooperated  with  the  pastors  in  the  care  of 
their  flocks.  The  religious  and  material  welfare  of  the 
immigrants  had  been  a  subject  close  to  his  heart,  but  he 
felt  that  this  welfare  was  dependent  in  large  part  upon 
their  being  Americanized  as  soon  as  was  reasonably  ex- 
pedient. 

When  Abbelen  presented  his  plea  in  Rome,  Archbishop 
Ireland  and  Bishop  Keane  were  there,  having  gone  to 
discuss  with  the  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda  plans 
for  the  establishment  of  the  Catholic  University  of 
America;  and  they  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity 
to  make  a  vigorous  reply.  They  repudiated  the  view 
that  there  was  any  question  between  Gennan  and  Irish 
Catholics,  insisting  that  the  only  question  that  could  be 
considered  was  that  "between  the  English  language, 
which  is  the  language  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Ger- 
man language,  which  immigrants  have  brought  to  the 
United  States."  There  was  not  even  a  sign,  they  stoutly 
maintained,  of  a  conflict  of  peoples  in  America.  No  Irish 
parishes  existed,  and  no  efforts  had  been  made  to  estab- 
lish them,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Irish  con- 
stituted such  a  large  element  in  the  Church;  for  they 
readily  assimilated  with  the  rest  of  the  population.    Pro- 

*Sl  Michael's. 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  619 

ceeding  with  their  argument,  these  two  prelates  showed 
that  there  were  many  diverse  nationalities  in  America  in 
addition  to  the  Germans,  and  that  it  was  particularly  es- 
sential for  that  reason  to  preserve  the  unity  of  Church 
government.  They  pronounced  as  reprehensible  a  com- 
plaint which  had  been  made  at  a  meeting  of  Bohemian 
societies  a  short  time  before  that  up  to  that  time  there 
had  been  no  Bohemian  in  the  American  episcopate. 

Regarding  the  Germans,  they  showed  that  the  people 
of  that  nationality  were  not  by  any  means  a  unit  in  sup- 
port of  the  Cahensly  point  of  view.  There  existed,  how- 
ever, "what  we  may  call  the  active  party,  whose  objects 
seem  to  be  to  preserve  intact  the  German  spirit  among 
immigrants  and  their  descendants,  and  to  prevent  them 
from  changing  their  language  for  the  English  language 
and  to  give  a  preponderating  position  to  German  influ- 
ence in  the  Church  in  America."  This  was  the  party  for 
which  Abbelen  spoke,  and  they  denied  that  he  possessed 
in  any  way  a  general  representative  character.  The  proj- 
ect of  establishing  a  permanent  Germany  in  America,  in 
their  view,  was  approved  only  by  a  comparatively  small 
proportion  of  the  immigrants,  the  great  majority  of  whom 
desired  complete  and  early  identification  with  the  insti- 
tutions and  language  of  their  adopted  country. 

Ireland  and  Keane  freely  conceded  that  the  immigrants 
should  have  facilities  for  themselves  and  for  their  chil- 
dren  to  practise  their  religion  at  first  in  the  languages 
most  familiar  to  them.  To  this  end,  they  showed  that 
the  American  Bishops  had  been  multiplying  churches  for 
the  benefit  of  different  nationalities,  yet  it  was  the  ten- 
dency of  the  immigrants  to  get  away  from  such  churches 


620  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

as  soon  as  possible  and  identify  themselves  with  the 
overwhelming  mass  of  the  people.  German  children  who 
were  instructed  in  their  native  language  in  the  school 
spoke  English  by  preference  when  they  entered  the  recre- 
ation yard.  The  churches  established  for  foreigners,  and 
in  which  foreign  languages  were  spoken  from  the  pulpit 
and  in  the  confessional,  were  constantly  losing  by  de- 
partures to  English  speaking  parishes,  though  gaining 
naturally  from  the  new  arrivals  from  Europe. 

In  mixed  parishes  where  there  were  large  numbers  of 
Germans,  presided  over  by  German  priests,  hundreds  of 
children  forsook  the  parochial  school  because  the  Eng- 
lish language  was  not  used.  Other  children  were  in  dan- 
ger of  being  alienated  from  the  Church  because  of  their 
inability  to  obtain  instruction  in  the  catechism  in  English, 
which  would  prepare  them  in  this  manner  for  the  transi- 
tion from  one  language  to  the  other.  Ireland  and  Keane 
also  remarked  significantly: 

"With  a  German  Church  in  America  there  is  no  oppor- 
tunity for  the  conversion  of  American  Protestants.  This 
is  a  vital  question  for  religion." 

They  summed  up  their  argument  in  words  which  be- 
spoke the  mind  of  Gibbons,  saying : 

"The  Church  will  never  be  strong  in  America;  she  will 
never  be  sure  of  keeping  within  her  fold  the  descendants 
of  immigrants,  Irish  as  well  as  others,  until  she  has  gained 
a  decided  ascendency  among  the  Americans  themselves. 
Thank  God,  the  time  seems  favorable  for  their  conver- 
sion; prejudices  are  disappearing;  there  is  a  distinct 
movement  toward  the  Church.  To  accelerate  it,  the 
Church  naturally  must,  as  far  as  it  can  be  done  without 
danger  to  other  interests,  be  presented  in  a  form  attrac- 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  521 

tive  to  Americans.  The  great  objection  which  they 
have  until  now  urged  against  her — an  objection  which 
at  certain  periods  of  their  history  they  entertained  so 
strongly  as  even  to  raise  persecution — is  that  the  Catholic 
Church  is  composed  of  foreigners;  that  she  exists  in 
America  as  a  foreign  institution,  and  that  she  is,  conse- 
quently, a  menace  to  the  existence  of  the  nation." 

While  Abbelen  was  in  Rome,  he  managed  to  stir  the 
controversy  to  such  a  point  that  a  meeting  of  some  of 
the  American  Archbishops  was  called  to  counteract  what 
he  was  doing.    Gibbons  wrote  in  his  journal : 

"Dec.  16  [1886].  A  meeting  of  the  Archbishops  of 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  myself  was  held 
in  Philadelphia  to  consider  certain  statements  made  by 
the  German  episcopate  in  this  country,  through  their 
agent.  Father  Abbelen,  now  in  Rome,  in  which  they  wrote 
that  the  Germans  are  not  fairly  treated,  and  that  due 
attention  is  not  paid  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  German 
faithful.  All  the  statements  are  refuted  in  a  letter  to 
Cardinal  Simeoni,  which  was  written  by  Archbishop  Cor- 
rigan,  as  Secretary,  and  mailed  by  the  morrow's  steamer. 
I  cabled  (an  account  of)  our  meeting  to  Bishops  Keane 
and  Ireland  in  Rome." 

One  of  the  favorite  arguments  of  the  Cahenslyites  was 
that  Bishops  of  Irish  birth  or  extraction  in  America  were 
not  sufficiently  solicitous  for  the  care  of  immigrants  from 
continental  Europe.  Gibbons  took  occasion  in  1889  ^o 
combat  this  view.  His  journal  for  that  year  contains 
the  following  entry : 

"April  10.  Wrote  to  Cardinal  Simeoni  in  relation  to 
a  charge  that  the  German  people  were  sometimes  neg- 
lected by  Irish  bishops  in  this  country.  ...  I  stated 


522  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

that  the  charge  was  untrue,  as  far  as  my  information 
extended." 

He  expressed  his  feelings  strongly  in  a  letter  written 
from  a  sick  room  to  Archbishop  Elder  June  3,  1891,  as 
follows : 

"I  regard  your  meeting  (the  consul  tors  of  the  Arch- 
diocese of  Cincinnati)  as  exceedingly  important  as  beuig 
the  first  that  will  take  place  since  the  revelation  of  the 
Americo-European  conspiracy,  which  has  inflicted  so 
deep  an  insult  on  the  episcopate  and  the  Catholics  of  the 
United  States,  and  seems  to  regard  the  Sees  of  America 
as  fit  to  be  filled  by  the  first  greedy  ecclesiastical  adven- 
turer that  comes  to  our  country.  An  American  Bishop, 
in  view  of  the  important  position  which  he  has  as  a  prop- 
erty holder  and  as  a  citizen,  should  be  a  man  possessed  of 
a  deep  love  not  only  for  his  Church,  but  also  for  thi§ 
country,  and  a  thorough  acquaintance  and  sympathy  with 
our  political  institutions." 

As  the  agitation  waxed  stronger  and  echoes  of  it  began 
to  resound  throughout  the  world.  Gibbons  determined 
that  the  whole  weight  of  the  American  Hierarchy  should 
be  thrown  into  the  scale.  After  having  written  to  Leo 
XIII  fully  setting  forth  his  own  views  on  Cahenslyism, 
he  called  a  meeting  of  the  Archbishops  in  Philadelphia, 
who  accepted  his  stand  as  their  own,  and  framed  a  strong 
protest  which  was  sent  to  the  Propaganda.  They  urged 
three  basic  principles: 

Firsts  that  there  should  exist  among  all  the  parishes 
of  the  United  States,  without  distinction  of  nationality, 
a  perfect  equality,  and  that  each  should  be  independent 
of  the  other. 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  523 

Second^  that  it  was  not  necessary  that  any  privilege 
should  be  accorded  to  any  nationality  in  the  administra- 
tion of  dioceses  and  parishes. 

Third,  that  it  was  the  plain  duty  of  every  Bishop  to  do 
his  utmost  that  all  the  faithful,  of  all  languages,  who 
might  be  in  his  diocese  be  taken  care  of  with  the  same 
charity. 

Leo  never  showed  any  sympathy  toward  Cahenslyism, 
and  the  appeal  of  the  American  episcopate  moved  him  to 
condemn  it  unequivocally.  On  July  4,  1891,  he  ad- 
dressed to  Gibbons,  through  Cardinal  Rampolla,  a  letter 
announcing  the  views  of  the  Apostolic  See  on  the  ques- 
tion. He  declared  that  the  existing  laws  for  the  selection 
of  Bishops  were  to  be  observed  without  modification,  and 
that  no  toleration  could  be  accorded  to  practises  which 
had  arisen  in  opposition  to  those  laws.  Gibbons  thus 
recorded  in  his  journal  the  receipt  of  the  Papal  verdict, 
and  also  commendation  of  his  stand  by  President  Har- 
rison : 

"July  11  [1891].  Received  from  Cardinal  Ram- 
polla, Secretary  of  State,  a  letter  in  which  the  Holy  Fa- 
ther announces  his  determination  not  to  grant  the  peti- 
tion of  Herr  Cahensly  that  national  Bishops  be  appointed 
for  the  United  States.  I  sent  copies  of  the  letter  to  all 
the  Archbishops. 

"While  at  Cape  May,  I  had  an  interesting  conversa- 
tion with  President  Harrison,  in  which  he  thanked  me  for 
my  denunciation  of  the  Cahensly  memorial.  He  said  he 
had  watched  the  subject  with  deep  interest,  and  that  he 
had  sometimes  thought  of  writing  to  me,  but  hesitated 
lest  he  might  be  interfering  with  church  matters." 

Harrison  met  Gibbons  while  enjoying  a  walk  at  that 


524.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS      * 

summer  resort,  where  the  President  found  relief  from  his 
exacting  duties.  He  invited  the  Cardinal  into  his  cot- 
tage, and  there  they  talked  at  length  about  the  Cahensly 
controversy.  The  President  showed  a  rather  broad  com- 
prehension of  questions  affecting  the  Church  in  the 
United  States.  The  attempt  to  introduce  the  factor  of 
nationality  in  selections  for  the  episcopate  appeared  to 
him  to  have  great  potency  for  harm,  and  he  expressed 
his  unbounded  satisfaction  that  the  movement  had  been 
checked  through  the  influence  of  the  prelate  who  spoke; 
for  America  in  all  things  relating  to  the  Church. 

Gibbons  described  this  meeting  in  the  following  letter 
to  Monsignor  O' Council : 

"Cape  May,  New  Jersey,  July  12,  1891. 
"Right  Rev.  dear  Friend: 

"Yesterday,  while  taking  a  walk  with  Rev.  Dr.  Mag- 
nien,  I  accidentally  met  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  who  happened  to  be  walking  toward  me  going  to 
his  cottage. 

"He  greeted  me  most  cordially,  and  invited  me  to  walk 
with  him.  We  went  together  for  some  time  chatting 
pleasantly,  till  we  approached  his  cottage.  When  I  was 
in  the  act  of  saying  'Good-bye'  to  him  and  continuing  my 
walk,  he  kindly  asked  me  to  accompany  him  to  his  cot- 
tage.   I  cheerfully  complied,  of  course, 

"After  discoursing  for  some  time  on  various  things,  Mr. 
Harrison,  without  any  suggestion  on  my  part,  introduced 
the  subject  of  the  Cahensly  memorials,  and  the  agitation 
which  they  were  causing  in  the  United  States.  He  then 
remarked  to  me: 

"  1  have  followed  the  question  with  profound  interest, 
and  I  regard  it  as  a  subject  of  deep  importance  to  our 
country  at  large,  one  in  which  the  American  people  are 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  525 

much  concerned.  I  have  also  conversed  on  the  subject 
with  Mr.  Tracy,  a  member  of  my  cabinet.  Foreign  and 
unauthorized  interference  with  American  affairs  cannot 
be  viewed  with  indifference.' 

"The  President  then  continued: 

"  T  was  very  much  pleased  with  the  opinion  which  you 
expressed  publicly  in  the  matter.  I  had  thought  several 
times  of  writing  to  you,  and  offering  you  my  congratula- 
tions on  the  remarks  that  you  made,  but  I  refrained  from 
doing  so  lest  I  should  be  interfering  with  church  matters. 
But  I  am  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  of  expressing  my 
satisfaction  at  the  words  you  have  spoken  and  of  opening 
my  mind.  This  is  no  longer  a  missionary  country  like 
others  which  need  missionaries  from  abroad.  It  has  an 
authorized  Hierarchy  and  well-established  congregations. 
Of  all  men,  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  should  be  in  full 
harmony  with  the  political  institutions  and  sentiments  of 
the  country.' 

'The  President  concluded  by  saying  that  I  had  his 
authority  to  make  any  use  I  thought  proper  of  his  re- 
marks. 

"I  told  the  President  I  was  happy  to  inform  him  that 
on  this  very  day  I  had  a  letter  from  his  Eminence,  Car- 
dinal Rampolla,  written  by  direction  of  the  Holy  Father, 
in  which  the  Cardinal  informed  me  that  the  Pope  had  re- 
jected the  Cahensly  petition  regarding  the  appointment  of 
foreign  Bishops.  The  President  seemed  to  be  much 
pleased  in  receiving  this  information.  .  .  . 

"Believe  me, 

"Your  faithful  friend  in  Christ, 

"J.  Card.  Gibbons." 

While  Gibbons  had  felt  throughout  that  the  mass  of 
enlightened  opinion  in  America,  including  the  opinion 
of  men  in  public  life,  regardless  of  creed,  had  been  in 
accordance  with  his  own  as  to  Cahenslyism,  motives  of 


526  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

propriety  had  hitherto  forbidden  him  to  transmit  to  Rome 
direct  evidences  of  that  condition.  Leo  had  long  before 
become  accustomed  to  accept  the  views  of  Gibbons  on 
such  subjects  as  authoritative  and  unquestionable,  and 
the  actual  presentation  to  the  Pope  of  expressions  of 
judgment  outside  the  Church  was  not  necessary;  but  here 
Gibbons  saw  an  opportunity  to  confound  the  purposes  of 
those  who  had  been  resisting  his  policies  which  was  not 
to  be  overlooked. 

In  expressing  his  satisfaction  that  the  President 
thought  as  he  did  upon  Cahenslyism,  he  therefore  sug- 
gested that  as  Harrison  had  contemplated  writing  a  let- 
ter on  the  subject,  it  might  not  be  too  late  then  to  do  so. 
The  President  replied  that  while  he  feared  to  "burn  his 
fingers"  by  meddling  in  ecclesiastical  questions,  he  had 
no  objection  to  the  Cardinal  stating  his  views  in  a  letter 
to  the  authorities  in  Rome.  Gibbons  transmitted  to  Ram- 
polla  a  full  account  of  the  conversation,  and  received  a 
reply  expressive  of  the  satisfaction  which  it  had  caused 
at  the  Vatican. 

Cahenslyism  was  only  checked ;  it  was  not  yet  ready  to 
accept  the  defeat  and  utter  rout  which  were  to  overtake 
it  later.  Some  of  its  captains  clung  to  the  hope  that  an- 
other way  to  accomplish  its  ends  would  be  found  than  by 
obtaining  sanction  for  the  selection  of  nationalist  Bishops. 
So  far  as  the  movement  was  confined  to  churchmen,  the 
Pope's  verdict  was,  of  course,  final.  The  fact  that  the 
agitation  did  not  cease  lent  strong  color  to  the  belief  that 
some  of  its  most  powerful  sources  were  secret  ones  allied 
with  political  influences  in  Germany,  whose  designs  were 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  527 

not  limited  or  even  affected  by  any  decision  given  by  a 
purely  religious  tribunal. 

Fortified  by  the  formally  promulgated  decision  of  Leo, 
Gibbons  resolved  to  rebuke  the  agitation  in  one  of  its 
strongholds  in  America.  The  pallium  was  to  be  con- 
ferred upon  Archbishop  Katzer  of  Milwaukee  in  St. 
John's  Cathedral,  that  city,  on  August  2o,  1891.  He 
framed  his  address  for  that  occasion  so  that  none  might 
mistake  its  meaning  in  or  out  of  the  diocese  in  which  he 
spoke.  The  ceremony  was  marked  by  the  presence  of 
more  than  seven  hundred  prelates  and  priests,  embracing, 
as  was  to  be  expected  in  Milwaukee,  every  nationality 
represented  among  the  American  people. 

Gibbons  began  his  address  by  speaking  of  the  "streams 
of  immigrants"  which  had  flowed  into  Wisconsin,  and 
of  the  solicitude  of  the  Church  for  their  welfare.  He 
continued : 

"We  have  only  to  contemplate  the  scene  before  us  to- 
day to  be  convinced  that  the  Catholic  Church  of  America 
is  a  family  derived  from  many  nations.  It  reminds  us  of 
the  heterogeneous  multitude  that  assembled  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  and  who  all  heard,  each  one  in  his  own 
tongue,  the  wonderful  works  of  God  proclaimed  by  the 
Apostles. 

"Not  so  varied  was  the  audience  that  listened  to  the 
Apostles  on  Pentecost  Day  as  are  the  congregations  that 
arrive  at  our  shores  and  kneel  together  at  our  altars. 
Many  come  to  us  from  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  Ger- 
many, Austria,  Hungary,  France,  Italy,  Poland,  Bohe- 
mia, Belgium  and  Holland,  and  commingle  together  in 
prayer  with  the  great  American  Catholic  body,  that  holds 
out  to  them  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.    Differing  in 


628  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

language,  in  habits  and  tastes,  they  are  united  in  the 
bonds  of  a  common  religion,  having  one  Lord,  one  faith, 
one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all, 
and  through  all,  and  in  us  all.  But,  thanks  to  God,  the 
Catholic  Church  of  America  is  united  not  only  by  the 
bond  of  the  common  faith,  but  what  is  more  precious,  it 
is  united  also  by  the  bond  of  Christian  brotherhood." 

Gibbons  then  spoke  of  the  harmony  that  existed  among 
the  Hierarchy,  as  had  been  exhibited  at  the  Third  Plen- 
ary Council  and  at  the  centermial  celebration  of  the  See 
of  Baltimore  in  1889.  This  was  a  background  for  the 
message  which  he  had  come  to  deliver,  the  message  that 
the  unity  of  the  Church  in  this  country  was  not  to  be 
broken  by  rivalries  based  upon  nationalism.  In  his  clear, 
vibrant  voice,  then  in  the  full  of  its  vigor,  he  thus  spoke 
the  overpowering  thought  that  was  in  him : 

"Woe  to  him,  my  brethren,  who  would  destroy  or 
impair  this  blessed  harmony  that  reigns  among  us  I  Woe 
to  him  who  would  sow  tares  of  discord  in  the  fair  fields 
of  the  Church  in  America  I  Woe  to  him  who  would  breed 
dissension  among  the  leaders  of  Israel  by  introducing  a 
spirit  of  nationalism  into  the  camps  of  the  Lord !  Bro- 
thers we  are,  whatever  may  be  our  nationality,  and  bro- 
thers we  shall  remain.  We  will  prove  to  our  countrymen 
that  the  ties  formed  by  grace  and  faith  are  stronger  than 
flesh  and  blood.  God  and  our  country  I — this  our  watch- 
word. Loyalty  to  God's  Church  and  to  our  country! — 
this  our  religious  and  political  faith. 

"Let  us  unite  hand  in  hand  in  laboring  for  the  Church 
of  our  fathers.  The  more  we  extend  the  influence  of  the 
Christian  religion,  the  more  we  will  contribute  to  the 
stability  of  our  political  and  social  fabric.  .  .  . 

"Next  to  love  for  God,  should  be  our  love  for  our 
country.     The  author  of  our  being  has  stamped  in  the 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  529 

Human  breast  a  love  for  one's  country,  and  therefore 
patriotism  is  a  sentiment  commended  by  Almighty  God 
Himself.  If  the  inhabitant  of  the  Arctic  regions  clings 
to  his  country  though  living  amid  perpetual  ice  and  snow, 
how  much  more  should  we  be  attached  to  this  land  of 
ours  so  bountifully  favored  by  heaven^  If  the  Apostles 
inculcated  respect  for  their  rulers  and  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  the  Roman  Empire,  though  these  laws  were  often 
framed  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  and  exterminating 
the  primitive  Christians,  how  much  more  devoted  should 
we  be  to  our  civil  government  which  protects  us  in  our 
persons  and  property,  without  interfering  with  our  rights 
and  liberties,  and  with  what  alacrity  we  should  observe 
the  laws  of  our  country,  which  were  framed  solely  with 
the  view  of  promoting  our  peace  and  happiness  I 

"The  Catholic  community  in  the  United  States  has 
been  conspicuous  for  its  loyalty  in  the  century  that  has 
passed  away;  and  we,  I  am  sure,  will  emulate  the  patriot- 
ism of  our  fathers  in  the  faith. 

"Let  us  glory  in  the  title  of  American  citizen.  We 
owe  our  allegiance  to  one  country,  and  that  country  is 
America.  We  must  be  in  harmony  with  our  political  in- 
stitutions. It  matters  not  whether  this  is  the  land  of  our 
birth  or  the  land  of  our  adoption.  It  is  the  land  of  our 
destiny.  .  .  . 

"When  our  brethren  across  the  Atlantic  resolve  to 
come  to  our  shores,  may  they  be  animated  by  the  senti- 
ments of  Ruth,  when  she  determined  to  join  her  hus- 
band's kindred  in  the  land  of  Israel,  and  may  they  say  to 
you  as  she  said  to  their  relations:  'Whither  thou  hast 
gone,  I  also  shall  go — where  thou  dwellest,  I  also  shall 
dwell ;  thy  people  shall  be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my 
God.  The  land  that  shall  receive  thee  dying,  in  the  same 
will  I  die,  and  there  will  I  be  buried." 

Gibbons  well  knew  what  it  meant  to  deliver  a  sermon 


630  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

like  that  in  Milwaukee  at  the  time.     Speaking  of  it 
twenty-two  years  later,  he  said : 

"It  was  one  of  the  most  audacious  things  I  ever  did, 
but  it  had  to  be  done.  When  I  finished  they  were  aghast, 
but  I  think  the  lesson  had  its  effect.  It  was  a  question 
upon  which  there  could  be  no  compromise  or  hesitation." 

The  anxiety  which  he  had  shown  so  long  that  a  largely 
increased  number  of  priests  in  this  country  should  be  of 
American  birth  was  now  redoubled.  While  the  Cahensly 
debate  was  at  white  heat,  he  made  an  address  at  the  cen- 
tennial celebration  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore, 
in  October,  1891,  in  which  he  used  these  significant 
words : 

"We  can  never,  indeed,  be  sufficiently  grateful  for  the 
apostolic  labors  of  the  clergy  who  have  come  to  us  from 
Europe  in  the  past  century.  Without  them,  tens  of 
thousands  would  have  died  of  spiritual  starvation.  But 
if  the  Church  is  to  take  deep  roots  in  the  country  and  to 
flourish,  it  must  be  sustained  by  men  racy  of  the  soil,  edu- 
cated at  home,  breathing  the  spirit  of  the  country,  grow- 
ing with  its  growth,  and  in  harmony  with  its  civil  and 
political  institutions." 

The  Cahensly ites  were  unwilling  to  desist  from  their 
marshaling  of  nationalist  units  in  exercising  pressure  as 
new  Bishops  were  selected  by  the  process  prescribed  by 
the  Third  Plenary  Council.  After  their  persistence  had 
been  in  evidence  for  nearly  a  year  beyond  the  time  of 
Leo's  declaration.  Cardinal  Ledochowski,  Prefect  of  the 
Propaganda,  was  so  disturbed  by  it  that  he  addressed  a 
vigorous  letter  to  Gibbons,  urging  that  a  stop  be  put  to 
the  entire  agitation.     He  wrote: 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  531 

"You  are  certainly  well  aware  that  on  the  occasion  of 
vacancies  in  episcopal  sees  in  the  United  States  divers 
commotions  very  often  arise  among  both  clergy  and  peo- 
ple, which  the  event  shows  are  growing  more  serious  and 
frequent  as  time  goes  on.  The  effects  which  usually  re- 
sult in  such  cases  are  neither  trivial  nor  hidden,  nor  are 
they  of  such  a  nature  that  this  Sacred  Congregation  can 
pass  them  over  in  silence.  For  we  have  now  and  again 
seen  clergy  and  people  active  beyond  their  legitimate 
rights  in  the  nominations  of  candidates  for  the  episcopal 
office ;  contentions  are  diffused  and  are  fomented  through 
the  press;  public  and  private  meetings  are  held  on  the 
subject,  in  which  each  faction  extols  its  own  candidate, 
while  it  disparages  those  of  its  opponents.  But  what  par- 
ticularly fosters  these  contentions  is  the  violent  zeal  with 
which  each  faction  endeavors  to  secure  Bishops  of  its 
own  nationality,  as  if  private  utility  and  not  the  Church's 
interest  were  the  end  to  be  looked  to  in  the  selection  of  a 
suitable  pastor. 

"Moreover,  while  the  Apostolic  See  has  the  interest  of 
the  Church  alone  in  view  in  appointing  Bishops  for  the 
Christian  flock  in  the  world  at  large,  it  is  more  especially 
influenced  by  this  consideration  in  naming  Bishops  for 
the  United  States  of  America,  where  immigrants  from 
the  different  nations  of  Europe,  by  adopting  that  country 
as  their  own,  are  blended  together  in  one  people,  and 
form  consequently  but  one  nation.  Since,  therefore,  the 
manner  of  electing  Bishops  in  the  Church  of  the  United 
States,  accurately  and  wisely  defined,  is  laid  down  in  the 
decrees  of  its  National  Councils,  and  particularly  in  those 
of  the  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore,  strenuous 
efforts  should  be  made  to  do  away  with  all  action  that 
is  contrary  to  it.  For  these  decrees,  which  are  above  all 
in  harmony  with  the  requirements  of  time  and  place,  and 
which  have  been  enacted  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the 
Bishops  and  confirmed  by  the  authority  of  the  Apostolic 


532  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

See,  are  not  such  as  can  in  any  wise  be  set  aside  in  favor 
of  private  individuals  without  serious  injury  to  discipline. 
"I  consider  it  my  duty  to  communicate  these  matters 
to  you,  so  that  this  evil  may  be  opposed  at  its  birth,  be- 
fore it  has  grown  strong  with  time.  It  is  desirable,  there- 
fore, that  in  every  diocese  both  clergy  and  people  be 
warned,  in  the  first  place,  of  the  deplorable  results  which 
result  from  contests  of  this  kind ;  that  they  not  only  rend 
asunder  the  bond  of  harmony  which  should  exist  among 
souls  and  relax  the  vigor  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  but 
become  a  stumbling-block  and  scandal  to  non-Catholics 
as  well.  Furthermore,  let  the  Bishops,  in  the  name  of 
the  Sacred  Congregation,  publicly  make  it  known  that 
whatever  is  done  beyond  the  prescriptions  of  the  Councils 
will  be  of  no  avail,  since  the  Apostolic  See  esteems  noth- 
ing of  greater  importance  than  to  uphold  the  vigor  of 
the  ecclesiastical  law  which  is  at  once  the  defense  of 
order  and  the  bulwark  of  peace."  ^ 

The  charges  of  Catholic  losses  through  allowing  immi- 
grants to  stray  from  the  faith  were  renewed  from  time 
to  time  in  Rome.    Gibbons  wrote  in  his  journal: 

"Nov.  19  [1892].  The  Archbishops  assembled  in 
New  York  forwarded  to  the  Holy  Father  a  letter  repudi- 
ating the  misstatements  of  Herr  Cahensly  regarding  the 
defection  from  the  faith  of  so  many  millions  in  times 
past." 

The  Cahenslyites  aimed  some  of  their  sharpest  arrows 
at  Bishop  Keane,  who  had  stood  with  Cardinal  Gibbons 
and  Archbishop  Ireland  in  the  group  of  their  most  for- 
midable opponents.  They  dared  not  antagonize  Gibbons 
openly,  and  centered  their  fire  on  his  lieutenants.    Ireland 

•Letter  of  Cardinal  Ledochowski  to  Cardinal  Gibbons,  May  i8,  1892. 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  533 

met  successfully  the  shock  of  their  most  violent  assaults, 
but  Keane  proved  to  be  more  vulnerable. 

In  the  faculty  of  the  Catholic  University  there  de- 
veloped a  comparatively  small  but  resourceful  and  active 
group  of  men  who  antagonized  the  rector,  at  first  covertly 
and  then  openly.  The  most  conspicuous  of  them  was 
Mgr.  Schroeder,  a  German  who  occupied  the  chair  of 
dogmatic  theology.  This  group  declared  that  in  sup- 
porting Ireland  on  the  school  question,  Keane  was  de- 
parting from  Catholic  truth  as  to  education.  Naturally, 
such  contentions  tended  to  compromise  him  as  the  head 
of  the  principal  educational  institution  of  the  Church 
in  the  United  States. 

The  sequel  was  that  in  September,  1896,  the  Vatican 
notified  Gibbons  that  a  new  rector  of  the  university 
would  be  appointed,  as  it  was  not  considered  wise  to 
depart  from  the  custom  that  the  heads  of  Catholic  edu- 
cational institutions  should  not  hold  their  posts  in  per- 
petuity. The  foes  of  Americanism  in  the  Church  hailed 
this  as  a  triumph  which  was  a  partial  offset  to  their  rout 
on  the  two  main  issues — the  school  question  and  that  of 
nationalist  Bishops. 

The  decision  of  Rome  was  coupled  with  the  an- 
nouncement that  Keane  would  be  elevated  to  the  rank 
of  Archbishop  and  the  choice  was  offered  to  him  of  re- 
maining in  the  United  States,  m  which  case  a  See  would 
be  provided  for  him,  or  if  he  desired  to  go  to  Rome  a 
field  of  labor  would  be  foimd  for  him  there.  He  decided 
to  proceed  to  Rome,  where  honors  were  bestowed  upon 
him  and  he  was  able  to  speak  for  himself  in  a  manner 
which  reversed  the  tide  of  opinion  there  as  to  some  con- 


684  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ditions  at  the  university  under  his  leadership.  He  was 
finally  elevated  to  the  archbishopric  of  Dubuque  and  re- 
turned to  the  United  States  to  take  up  the  active  ad- 
ministration of  that  See. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Conaty,  then  president  of  the 
Catholic  Summer  School  at  Plattsburg,  New  York,  was 
selected  as  the  new  rector.  At  the  installation  of  Dr. 
Conaty  as  rector  in  January,  1897,  Cardinal  Gibbons 
made  the  principal  address,  and  took  the  opportunity  to 
express  his  ever  warm  affection  for  Bishop  Keane.  The 
Cardinal  declared  that  Keane  was  justly  entitled  to  be 
called  the  second  founder  of  the  university,  recalling  that 
when  he  was  appointed  rector  even  the  land  for  the 
institution  had  not  been  bought.  With  emotion  he  told 
how  the  Bishop  had  traversed  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land,  arousing  Catholics  everywhere  by  his  eloquent 
pleas  which  resulted  in  obtaining  the  large  sum  of  money 
needed  for  establishing  the  university. 

The  Cardinal  laid  down  as  the  watchworti  of  the  uni- 
versity "Revelation  and  Science,  Religion  and  Patri- 
otism, God  and  our  Country."  He  contrasted  the  condi- 
tions at  the  institution,  with  which  the  government  never 
thought  of  interfering,  and  where  the  only  obstacle  to 
further  development  was  a  lack  of  funds,  with  condi- 
tions which  he  had  observed  in  the  course  of  his  Euro- 
pean trips.  The  American  Constitution  was  admirably 
adapted  to  the  growth  and  expansion  of  the  Catholic 
religion,  and  the  Catholic  religion  was  admirably 
adapted  to  the  genius  of  the  Constitution. 

In  his  inaugural  address,  Dr.  Conaty  emphasized  that 
the  university  was  Catholic,  that  it  was  for  the  Church 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  535 

in  America,  and  was  American  in  the  fullest  sense,  having 
as  the  circle  of  its  beneficiaries  the  American  Catholic 
people. 

After  his  return  from  Rome,  Keane  delivered  an  ad- 
dress at  the  investiture  of  Dr.  Conaty  as  a  domestic 
prelate  of  the  Pope,  saying: 

"This  is  the  Catholic  University  of  America.  It  is 
truly,  intensely  Catholic  and  absolutely  American.  Its 
American  character  has  been  approved  by  the  Holy 
Father  and  he  desires  that  it  shall  always  continue  so. 
I  may  assure  you  that  no  body  of  men  will  be  allowed 
to  disturb  this  university  in  its  most  useful  purpose — 
that  of  fostering  true  Catholicity  and  missionary  Ameri- 


canism." 


The  revival  of  intolerance  of  which  Gibbons  had  given 
solemn  warning  came  to  pass.  The  attempt  to  eject  for- 
eign questions  into  the  Church  in  America  produced  the 
natural  result  of  stirring  popular  prejudice,  too  ready 
at  all  times  to  thrust  itself  into  questions  concerning  re- 
ligion. As  usual,  the  mass  of  these  forces  of  discord  be- 
came merged  in  one  compact  organization,  the  so-called 
"American  Protective  Association,"  abbreviated  in  popu- 
lar parlance  to  "A.  P.  A."  It  was  a  comparatively  weak 
revival  of  the  "Know  Nothing"  movement  and,  unlike  its 
abhorrent  predecessor,  spilled  no  blood,  but  aimed  blindly 
at  any  Catholic  target  which  presented  itself. 

Its  fomenters  professed  to  find  particular  cause  for 
disquietude  in  the  fact  that  Cardinal  Gibbons  had  been 
present  by  invitation  of  Speaker  Crisp  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  at  Washington,  when  the  final  vote  on 
the  Wilson  tariff  bill  was  taken  while  Mr.  Cleveland 


536  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

was  President;  and  the  bold  declarations  of  Archbishop 
Ireland  on  political  questions  furnished  abundant 
texts  for  their  fiery  discourses.  In  particular,  the  ap- 
pointment of  Satolli  as  Apostolic  Delegate  moved  them 
to  proclaim  that  the  nation  was  being  imperiled.^  As  in 
the  "Know  Nothing"  movement,  there  were  constant  and 
vociferous  declarations  that  the  great  wave  of  immigra- 
tion was  a  menace  to  American  institutions,  and  agents 
of  the  association  used  this  argument  freely  as  a  means 
of  influencing  elections.  While  the  movement  never 
attained  sufficient  influence  to  stamp  it  as  more  than 
sporadic,  it  served  to  call  attention  to  the  danger  of  de- 
parting from  the  straight  path  in  the  consideration  of 
questions  affecting  American  nationality. 

When  the  Presidential  election  of  1892  took  place,  the 
new  anti-Catholic  agitation  was  near  its  pinnacle.  In  the 
campaign  which  preceded  that  election,  a  favorite  theme 
brought  forward  by  the  "A.  P.  A.,"  and  persons  outside 
of  it  whose  thoughts  ran  in  lines  parallel  to  it  was  Mr. 
Cleveland's  friendship  for  Cardinal  Gibbons.  William 
Black,  of  Chelsea,  Massachusetts,  drew  from  Mr.  Cleve- 
land a  characteristic  declaration  on  that  subject  by  writ- 
ing to  him  in  regard  to  the  following  extract  from  a  re- 
port of  a  speech  in  the  British-American: 

"When  Cleveland  became  President  he  had  a  wire  run 
from  the  White  House  to  the  Cardinal's  palace,  and 
placed  a  Roman  Catholic  at  the  head  of  every  division  of 
the  1 5,000  employees  in  the  public  departments,  and  per- 
mitted nuns,  without  authority  and  against  the  printed 
instructions  hung  up  in  every  public  building  in  Wash- 

"  Desmond,  The  A.  P.  A.  Movement,  p.  15. 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  537 

ington,  to  go  twice  each  month  through  them  and  com- 
mand every  clerk  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,"  etc. 

Mr.  Cleveland  made  this  reply : 

"Gray  Gables, 
"Buzzard's  Bay,  Mass., 

"July  11,  1892. 
''William  Blacky  Esq.: 

"Dear  Sir: 

"I  am  almost  ashamed  to  yield  to  your  request 
to  deny  a  statement  so  silly  and  absurd  on  its  face 
as  the  one  you  send  me.  However,  as  this  is  the  second 
application  I  have  received  on  the  same  subject,  I  think 
it  best  to  end  the  matter  so  far  as  it  is  possible  to  do  so 
by  branding  the  statement  in  all  its  details  as  unquali- 
fiedly and  absolutely  false. 

"I  know  Cardinal  Gibbons  and  know  him  to  be  a  good 
citizen  and  first-rate  American,  and  that  his  kmdness  of 
heart  and  toleration  are  in  striking  contrast  to  the  fierce 
intolerance  and  vicious  malignity  which  disgrace  some 
who  claim  to  be  Protestants.  I  know  a  number  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Catholic  Church  who  were  employed  in  the 
public  service  during  my  administration,  and  I  suppose 
there  were  many  so  employed. 

"I  should  be  ashamed  of  my  Presbyterianism  if  these 
declarations  gave  ground  for  offense. 

"Yours  very  truly, 

"Grover  Cleveland." 

Another  organization  which  sprang  up  about  this  time, 
and  whose  objects  reflected  some  of  the  opinions  put  for- 
ward by  the  American  Protective  Association,  was  the 
"National  League  for  the  Protection  of  American  Listi- 
tutions."    It  was  formed  at  Saratoga  Springs,  New  York, 


538  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

in  August,  1889,  and  included  in  the  membership  of  its 
board  of  managers  a  number  of  men  prominent  in  New- 
York  City  and  State.  Its  first  president  was  John  Jay, 
who  was  succeeded  by  William  H.  Parsons.*  The  prin' 
cipal  object  which  it  sought  was  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  prohibiting  the  use  of 
money  raised  by  taxation  in  aid  of  any  church  or  religious 
society,  or  any  institution  under  "sectarian  or  ecclesiasti- 
cal control."  While  this  part  of  its  plan  never  progressed 
further  than  the  stage  of  agitation,  the  influence  of  the 
league  was  strongly  exercised  in  bringing  about  the  aboli- 
tion of  government  appropriations  for  Catholic  Indian 
schools,  and  in  causing  the  insertion  of  clauses  in  some 
State  constitutions  in  conformity  with  its  principles. 

As  the  American  Protective  Association's  operations 
were  conducted  for  the  most  part  in  secret,  the  effects  of 
its  ferment  were  sometimes  difficult  to  trace  to  any 
source.  Catholics  felt  that  an  unseen  danger  constantly 
menaced  their  equal  rights  as  Americans.  As  the  move- 
ment continued,  a  demand  developed  that  organization 
should  offset  organization  in  resisting  the  anti-Catholic 
warfare.  This  took  shape  in  January,  1896,  when  the 
American  Catholic  League  was  organized  for  the  pur- 
pose of  combating  the  "A.  P.  A." 

Promoters  of  this  society  knew  that  it  could  not  be 
effective  without  the  backing  of  Gibbons,  and  made  ef- 
forts to  obtain  his  endorsement.  This  drew  from  him  a 
direct  expression  of  his  views  in  the  following  statement 
issued  from  his  household : 

"The  Cardinal  wishes  to  be  understood  as  in  no  way 

*King,  Facing  the  Tiuentieth  Century,  p.  520  et  seq. 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  539 

approving  any  secret  organization,  political  or  non-politi- 
cal, within  the  Church  or  without.  He  believes  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  all  to  regard,  in  electing  to  office,  the  best 
men,  irrespective  of  their  religious  convictions ;  and  that 
no  man  should  be  debarred  from  offices  of  public  trust  or 
private  confidence  because  of  his  religious  professions." 

The  American  Protective  Association  was  particularly 
aggressive  in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1896.  Its  ac- 
tivities took  the  form  of  fighting  by  its  peculiar  methods 
the  nomination  and  support  of  Catholics  for  any  office 
by  any  party.  So  open  and  threatening  was  the  move- 
ment that  Gibbons  felt  it  imperative  to  write  a  letter  in 
which  he  further  set  forth  his  attitude  as  follows : 

"It  is  the  duty  of  the  leaders  of  political  parties  to 
express  themselves  without  any  equivocation  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  religious  freedom  which  underlie  our  Constitu- 
tion. Catholics  are  devoted  to  both  the  great  political 
parties  of  the  country,  and  each  individual  is  left  entirely 
to  his  own  conscience.  We  are  proud  to  say  that  in  the 
United  States  the  great  Catholic  Church  has  never  used 
or  perverted  its  acknowledged  power  by  seeking  to  make 
politics  subservient  to  its  own  advancement.  Moreover, 
it  is  our  proud  boast  that  we  have  never  interfered  with 
the  civil  or  political  rights  of  any  who  may  have  differed 
from  us  in  religion. 

"We  demand  the  same  rights  for  ourselves  and  nothing 
more,  and  will  be  content  with  nothing  less.  Not  only 
is  it  the  duty  of  all  parties  distinctly  to  set  their  faces 
against  the  false  and  un-American  principles  thrust  for- 
ward of  late ;  but,  much  as  I  would  regret  the  entire  iden- 
tification of  any  religious  body,  as  such,  with  any  particu- 
lar party,  I  am  convinced  that  the  members  of  any  re- 
ligious body  whose  rights,  civil  and  religious,  are  attacked. 


540  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

will  naturally  and  unanimously  espouse  the  cause  of  the 
party  which  has  the  courage  to  avow  openly  the  prin- 
ciples of  civil  and  religious  liberty  according  to  the  Con- 
stitution. Patience  is  a  virtue,  but  is  not  the  only  virtue ; 
when  pushed  too  far,  it  may  degenerate  into  pusilla- 
nimity." 

Cahenslyism  was,  perhaps,  the  most  serious  danger 
which  has  ever  threatened  the  progress  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  this  country.  The  most  powerful  force  in 
checking  it  was  undoubtedly  Cardinal  Gibbons,  with  the 
active  assistance  of  his  devoted  friends  and  gifted  co- 
workers, such  as  Archbishop  Ireland,  Bishop  Keane  and 
Mgr.  O'Connell.  If  the  United  States  is  a  unit,  unbroken 
by  divergencies  and  jealousies  of  race  and  language,  the 
country  owes  a  debt  to  him  more  than  to  any  other  single 
force  for  arresting  the  progress  of  a  propaganda  perhaps 
more  ominous  to  the  future  of  the  nation  than  was  the 
anti-slavery  agitation  in  its  beginnings.  A  Gibbons  with 
the  will,  the  power,  the  fertility  of  resource,  the  clear 
vision  of  the  future,  the  tact  and  firmness,  the  rare  traits 
of  statesmanship  which  he  showed  in  extinguishing  the 
flame  of  Cahenslyism  might  have  nullified  the  violent 
forces  unloosed  in  the  conflict  over  slavery,  and  brought 
about  a  solution  of  the  problem  with  the  same  substantial 
results,  but  without  the  interposition  of  a  tremendous 
and  fratricidal  war. 

Seventeen  years  before  America  entered  the  World 
War  his  mind  grasped  the  danger  of  dissension,  per- 
haps even  of  disruption,  from  foreign  elements,  that  were 
rising  like  a  great  cloud  unseen  or  unheeded  by  many,  and 
overspreading  the  country.    Tardy  statesmen  could  esti- 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  541 

mate  its  potentiality  as  he  did  only  when  it  was  too  late 
to  prepare  to  meet  it.  In  1890  the  number  of  foreign 
bom  white  inhabitants  in  the  United  States  was  9,121,- 
867;  in  1910,  four  years  before  Europe's  war  deluge  put 
a  sudden  stop  to  emigration,  the  number  was  13,3455- 
545.^  There  had  been  a  further  increase  of  some  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  by  1917,  when  America  became  en- 
gulfed in  the  war.  The  measure  of  Gibbons'  work  in 
arresting  the  danger  from  this  source  is  found  not  alone 
in  what  might  be  termed  the  negative  effect  upon  the 
largest  group  of  the  mass  of  approximately  4,500,000 
persons  who  represented  the  accretion  of  the  foreign  born 
here  between  1890  and  1910  and  among  whom  the  Cath- 
olic Church,  largely  through  what  he  did,  became  in  effect 
an  active  agent  for  Americanization — the  most  powerful 
agent  which  could  have  reached  into  their  lives  and  helped 
to  mold  them.  It  must  be  measured  also  by  the  positive 
effect  which  would  have  been  produced  by  the  active 
consolidation  of  these  foreign  bom  units  that  would  have 
taken  place  under  the  program  of  Cahenslyism,  if  that 
program  had  not  been  defeated.  Beyond  that,  there  was 
a  great  reduction  of  the  effort  to  retain  in  compact  groups 
the  diverse  national  units  formed  here  before  1890  among 
the  foreigners  then  in  the  country. 

With  the  artificial  check  of  Cahenslyism  removed  from 
the  natural  process  of  the  assimilation  of  this  mass,  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  who  would  have  misunderstood  and 
perhaps  turned  against  America  in  1917  learned  to  under- 
stand her,  to  love  her,  to  fight  for  her  with  an  ardor  and 
courage  second  to  none.    Of  course,  no  effort  could  have 

'  United  States  census  figures. 


642  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

brought  complete  loyalty  and  unity;  as  it  was,  the  degree 
of  hostility  to  America,  of  seeing  her  with  European  eyes, 
of  holding  to  the  tie  abroad  more  strongly  than  the  tie  in 
this  country,  was  so  great  that  some  of  the  most  optimis- 
tic have  doubted  that  America  could  have  entered  the  war 
as  a  unit  in  1914,  or  perhaps  even  in  1915  or  1916.  The 
ominousness  of  the  actual  threat  against  the  nation's  life 
that  was  faced  is  an  indication  of  what  its  proportions 
might  have  been  had  not  the  victory  over  Cahenslyism 
been  achieved. 

Gibbons  clearly  saw  that  if  there  should  be  a  divided 
America  from  foreign  influence  there  would  be  many  to 
lay  the  blame  at  the  door  of  the  Catholic  Church,  no  mat- 
ter what  the  cause;  if  the  cause  had  proceeded  from  the 
concrete  and  deliberate  policy  proposed  by  the  Cahensly- 
ites,  there  would  be  many  more  to  accuse  her.  This  he 
knew  would  have  arrested  her  progress,  perhaps  for  years, 
and  might  have  led  under  stress  of  popular  feeling  to  ex- 
cesses beside  which  those  of  previous  unfortunate  periods 
might  have  seemed  insignificant.  He  felt  that  she  must 
not  only  be  free  of  foreign  influence,  but  that  the  mass 
of  his  fellow  countrymen  must  be  made  to  know  that  she 
was  free  of  it.  To  allow  the  progress  of  religion  to  be 
set  back  in  that  manner  would  have  meant  that  the  count- 
less efforts  and  sacrifices  of  a  multitude  of  Bishops  and 
priests  in  years  of  work  would  have  been  debarred  from 
producing  the  fruit  which  they  ought  to  yield.  He  could 
not  be  affected  by  the  clamor  for  national  Bishops  when 
such  thoughts  as  these  surged  in  his  mind. 

He  felt  that  the  foreigners  here  had  all  to  gain  and 
nothing  to  lose  by  falling  in  unreservedly  with  the  na- 


FALL  OF  THE  CAHENSLY  CAUSE  543 

tional  destiny  of  America.  Realizing  the  historical  and 
ethnic  origins  of  the  clashes  of  nationalist  groups  in  Eu- 
rope, he  believed  that  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  which 
could  come  to  the  immigrants  was  deliverance  from  such 
clashes.  Above  all,  he  was  as  firmly  persuaded  as  a  man 
could  be  of  anything,  that  the  Church's  destiny  here  and 
the  nation's  destiny  were  one.  The  confusion  of  one 
would  be  the  confusion  of  the  other;  the  welfare  and 
stability  of  one  were  the  welfare  and  stability  of  the 
other. 


CHAPTER   XXXI 
INTERPRETATIONS  OF  FATHER  HECKER 

Cahenslyism  was,  in  effect,  a  misunderstanding  of 
America  by  Europe.  A  new  form  of  this  misunderstand- 
ing arose  in  a  controversy  that  sprang  up  over  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Life  of  Father  Hecker,  a  biography  by  the 
Rev.  Walter  Elliott,  of  the  Paulist  order,  of  his  gifted 
leader.  This  controversy  was  continued  so  long,  pro- 
ceeding from  one  extreme  to  another,  that  Leo  XIII  was 
called  upon  to  check  it.  Such  misconceptions  were  per- 
haps inevitable,  in  view  of  the  sudden  expansion  of  the 
Church  here,  and  because  she  was  taking  a  role  far  greater 
in  the  world  wide  perspective  of  Catholicism  than  before. 
The  differences,  deplored  as  they  were  while  in  prog- 
ress, served  to  clear  the  air  and  bring  about  a  greater 
degree  of  harmony  than  before  they  arose. 

The  Church  in  this  respect  reflected  the  general  evolu- 
tion of  the  American  nation.  As  America  became  the  fore- 
most nation  of  the  world  in  numbers,  wealth  and  general 
resources,  so  the  Church  here  became  one  of  the  foremost 
units  of  the  faith  that  had  its  seat  in  the  Chair  of  Peter. 
Ecclesiastical  misunderstandings  with  Europe  had  their 
counterpart  in  political  misunderstandings  with  Europe. 
Both  appeared  to  be  inevitable.  In  each  case  the  obscure 
and  inaccurate  views  were  not  held,  for  the  most  part, 
among  leaders,  but  among  those  less  informed.     Leo 

544 


INTERPRETATIONS  OF  FATHER  HECKER  545 

understood  America,  as  did  many  of  the  chief  statesmen 
of  Europe.  In  fact,  it  seems  that  he  had  a  deeper  and  truer 
international  understanding  than  any  secular  statesman 
or  ruler  of  his  time;  but,  in  the  popular  mind  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic,  there  was  a  lack  of  mutual  compre- 
hension that  found  expression  among  those  who  could 
not  see  from  the  higher  vantage  points.  This  found  vent, 
in  a  characteristic  way,  in  the  animated  debate  over  the 
Life  of  Father  Hecker. 

While  Hecker  was  living  the  life  of  which  Elliott 
wrote,  no  one  questioned  the  orthodoxy  of  his  churchman- 
ship,  his  exemplary  piety  or  the  wonderful  results  of  his 
preaching.  No  American  priest  stood  higher  in  the  es- 
teem of  Rome;  none  higher  in  the  affection  and  admira- 
tion of  his  brethren  in  his  own  country.  No  one  raised  a 
voice  to  deny  that  he  was  doing  a  great  and  necessary 
work  for  the  Church  by  bringing  her  in  more  intimate 
touch  with  the  American  people.  He  had  been,  as  we 
have  seen,  a  member  of  the  group  of  Redemptorists  who 
had  been  instrumental  in  turning  the  thoughts  of  Gib- 
bons, when  a  youth  in  New  Orleans,  to  the  mission  of  the 
priesthood,  and  Gibbons,  strong  as  always  in  personal  ties 
and  gratitude,  remembered  this  vividly.  These  two  men 
continued  to  feel  a  deep  interest  in  each  other.  Hecker 
had  visited  Gibbons  in  Richmond  when  the  latter  was 
a  young  Bishop,  and  none  felt  a  deeper  sense  of  personal 
delight  in  the  honors  which  were  showered  upon  him 
as  Cardinal. 

Hecker  died  in  1888,  when  his  order  was  firmly  estab- 
lished as  the  leading  American  agency  for  the  conversion 
of  Protestants,  and  for  the  evangelization  of  the  people 


54^6  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

already  in  the  fold  of  the  Church.  Its  preachers  traveled 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  stirring  up  the  flames  of 
religious  ardor,  proclaiming  everywhere,  as  Gibbons  pro- 
claimed, loyalty  to  God  and  loyalty  to  country. 

The  individuality  of  each  nation,  Hecker  taught, 
should  be  used  as  the  instrument  by  which  the  people 
might  be  brought  to  God.  He  held  that  it  was  not  with- 
out the  will  of  God  that  this  individuality  had  been  de- 
veloped ;  why,  then,  not  take  advantage  of  it  *?  In  Amer- 
ica the  people  had  worked  out  a  political  system  which 
had  brought  them  liberty  and  power,  making  the  country 
a  refuge  for  the  oppressed  and  the  unfortunate.  This,  he 
felt,  had  been  due  to  the  blessing  of  God,  working  in 
secular  affairs  through  the  freedom  and  independent  char- 
acter of  Americans.  Their  characteristic  qualities  could 
be  utilized  in  a  special  manner  by  the  Church  to  bring 
people  within  her  fold.  He  desired  the  cultivation  of 
the  natural  and  active  virtues  as  being  more  in  accord- 
ance with  the  age  than  the  passive  ones. 

He  also  took  the  ground  that  since  the  Vatican  Council 
had  formally  defined  the  doctrine  of  Papal  infallibility 
and  had  fixed  the  constitution  of  the  Church  in  final  form, 
the  time  had  come  for  a  wide  development  of  individual 
action  within  the  limits  thus  laid  down.  Hecker  always 
insisted  upon  "absolute  and  unswerving  loyalty  to  the 
authority  of  the  Church,  wherever  and  however  expressed, 
as  God's  authority  upon  earth  and  for  all  time" ;  but  he 
believed  at  the  same  time  that  men  as  the  children  of 
God  must  receive  the  direct  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.^    He  held  that  the  Holy  Spirit  acts  directly  upon 

*  Sedgwick.  Life  of  Father  Hecker,  p.  97  et  seq. 


INTERPRETATIONS  OF  FATHER  HECKER  547 

the  inner  life  of  man,  and  in  that  light  is  his  superior  and 
director.  That  its  guidance  may  become  more  and  more 
immediate  in  the  interior  life  and  the  soul's  obedience 
more  and  more  instinctive,  was  the  object,  in  his  opinion, 
of  the  whole  external  order  of  the  Church,  including  the 
sacramental  system.  He  taught  that  the  sum  of  spiritual 
life  consisted  in  yielding  to  the  movements  of  the  spirit 
of  God  in  the  soul.  He  saw  no  conflict  between  the  ex- 
ternal authority  of  the  Church  as  a  guide  of  the  soul  and 
the  direct  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  without  human  inter- 
vention.   Hecker  wrote : 

"The  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  embodied  visibly  in 
the  authority  of  the  Church,  and  the  action  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  dealing  invisibly  in  the  soul,  form  one  inseparable 
S3aithesis;  and  he  who  has  not  a  clear  conception  of  this 
twofold  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  in  danger  of  running 
into  one  or  the  other,  and  sometimes  into  both  of  these 
extremes,  either  of  which  is  destructive  of  the  end  of  the 
Church.  The  Holy  Spirit  in  the  external  authority  of 
the  Church  acts  as  the  infallible  interpreter  and  criterion 
of  Divine  revelation.  The  Holy  Spirit  in  the  soul  acts 
as  the  Divine  life-giver  and  sanctifier." 

The  practical  unanimity  with  which  Hecker' s  real 
views  were  accepted  by  American  Catholics  was  indi- 
cated by  the  fact  that  Elliott's  biography  of  him  was  is- 
sued with  special  indorsement  by  two  members  of  the 
Hierarchy  who  represented,  perhaps,  the  widest  variation 
in  the  schools  of  thought  within  that  body.  Archbishop 
Corrigan,  who  leaned  to  conservatism,  gave  his  imprima- 
tur and  Archbishop  Ireland,  spokesman  of  liberal  views, 
wrote  a  eulogistic  introduction  for  the  book,  in  which 
he  said: 


548  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"Father  Hecker  was  the  typical  American  priest;  his 
were  the  gifts  of  mind  and  heart  that  can  do  great  work 
for  God  and  for  souls  in  America  at  the  present  time. 
.  .  .  There  must  be  added  the  practical  intelligence  and 
the  pliability  of  will  to  understand  one's  surroundings, 
the  ground  upon  which  he  is  to  deploy  his  forces  and  to 
adapt  himself  to  circumstances  and  opportunities  as  Prov- 
idence appoints.  ...  It  is  as  clear  to  me  as  noonday 
light  that  countries  and  peoples  have  each  their  peculiar 
needs  and  aspirations,  as  they  have  their  peculiar  environ- 
ments, and  that,  if  we  would  enter  into  souls  and  control 
them,  we  must  deal  with  them  according  to  their  condi- 
tions. 

"The  ideal  line  of  conduct  for  the  priest  in  Assyria 
will  be  out  of  all  measure  in  Mexico  or  Minnesota,  and  I 
doubt  not  that  one  doing  fairly  well  in  Minnesota  would 
by  similar  methods  set  things  sadly  astray  in  Leinster  or 
Bavaria.  The  Saviour  prescribed  timeliness  in  pastoral 
caring.  The  master  of  a  house.  He  said,  'bringeth  forth 
out  of  his  treasury  new  things  and  old,'  as  there  is  demand 
for  one  kind  or  the  other. 

"The  circumstances  of  Catholics  have  been  peculiar  in 
the  United  States,  and  we  have  unavoidably  suffered  on 
this  account.  Catholics  in  largest  numbers  were  Euro- 
peans, and  so  were  their  priests,  many  of  whom — by  no 
means  all — remained  in  heart  and  mind  and  mode  of  ac- 
tion as  alien  to  America  as  if  they  had  never  been  re- 
moved from  the  Shannon,  the  Loire  or  the  Rhine.  No 
one  need  remind  me  that  immigration  has  brought  us 
inestimable  blessings,  or  that  without  it  the  Church  in 
America  would  be  of  small  stature.  The  remembrance 
of  a  precious  fact  is  not  put  aside,  if  I  recall  an  accidental 
evil  attaching  to  it. 

"Priests  foreign  in  disposition  and  work  were  not 
fitted  to  make  favorable  impressions  upon  the  non-Cath- 
olic American  population,  and  the  American-bom  chil- 


INTERPRETATIONS  OF  FATHER  HECKER  549 

dren  of  Catholic  immigrants  were  likely  to  escape  their 
action.  And,  lest  I  be  misunderstood,  I  assert  all  this  is 
as  true  of  priests  coming  from  Ireland  as  from  any  other 
foreign  country.  Even  priests  of  American  ancestry,  min- 
istering to  immigrants,  not  infrequently  fell  into  the  lines 
of  those  around  them,  and  did  but  little  to  make  the 
Church  in  America  throb  with  American  life. 

"Not  so  Isaac  Thomas  Hecker.  Whether  consciously 
or  unconsciously,  I  do  not  know,  and  it  matters  not,  he 
looked  on  America  as  the  fairest  conquest  for  Divine 
truth,  and  he  girded  himself  with  arms  shaped  and  tem- 
pered to  the  American  pattern.  I  think  it  may  be  said 
that  the  American  current,  so  plain  for  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century  in  the  flow  of  Catholic  affairs,  is  largely,  at 
least,  to  be  traced  back  to  Father  Hecker  and  his  early 
coworkers.  It  used  to  be  said  of  them  in  reproach  that 
they  were  the  'Yankee'  Catholic  Church;  the  reproach 
was  their  praise. 

"We  shall  always  distinguish  Isaac  Thomas  Hecker 
as  the  ornament,  the  flower  of  our  American  priesthood — 
the  type  that  we  wish  to  see  reproduced  among  us  in 
widest  proportions.  Ameliorations  may  be  sought  for  in 
details,  and  the  more  of  them  the  better  for  religion;  but 
the  great  lines  of  Father  Hecker's  personality  we  should 
guard  with  jealous  love  in  the  formation  of  the  future 
priestly  characters  of  America." 

As  Elliott's  interpretation  of  Hecker  became  dissemi- 
nated in  Europe,  Cardinal  Gibbons  expressed  his  deep 
satisfaction  in  the  following  letter  to  the  author : 

"Baltimore,  April  14,  1898. 
"My  dear  Father  Elliott: 

"It  gives  me  great  satisfaction  to  declare  my  opinion 
of  Father  Hecker  and  to  have  it  made  known.  Father 
Hecker  was  undoubtedly  an  instrument  of  Providence 


550  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

for  the  diffusion  of  the  Catholic  faith  in  our  country. 
He  did  a  great  deal  of  good  in  bringing  non-Catholics 
nearer  to  us,  in  lessening  prejudice  and  in  gaining  the 
ear  of  the  public  for  our  religion,  without  counting  the 
multitude  of  those  who  owe  their  conversion  directly  or 
indirectly  to  him. 

"His  mind  was  that  of  a  child  in  submission  to  the 
Holy  Church.  It  was  a  Catholic  mind  in  the  fullest 
meaning  of  the  word.  His  life  was  adorned  by  every 
fruit  of  personal  piety.  He  was  animated  by  truly 
apostolic  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls — a  zeal  which 
was  always  bold  but  at  the  same  time  prudent,  so  as 
to  attract  Protestants  without  the  smallest  sacrifice  of 
orthodoxy. 

"Divine  Providence  gave  him  the  help  of  a  com- 
munity of  men  inspired  by  as  lofty  motives  as  his  own. 
The  Paulists  are  continuing  the  work  to  which  he  de- 
voted his  life,  the  conversion  of  souls  to  the  Catholic 
faith,  and,  by  the  grace  of  God,  they  have  had  marvelous 
success.  The  special  services  they  have  held  in  their 
church  in  New  York  City  have  given  proof  of  this  suc- 
cess by  the  very  large  number  of  sinners  who  have  been 
brought  to  repentance  and  of  Protestants  who  have 
been  converted,  instructed  and  baptized.  They  have, 
moreover,  conducted  services  and  meetings  for  non- 
Catholics  all  over  the  United  States. 

"These  congregations  are  frequently  composed  ex- 
clusively of  Protestants.  They  have,  further,  greatly 
extended  Father  Hecker's  organization  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  Catholic  literature.  The  Paulists  have  shown 
themselves  equal  to  great  apostolic  enterprises.  They 
have  always  displayed  unreserved  respect  and  obedience 
to  the  ecclesiastical  authorities. 

"I  learn  with  pleasure  that  Father  Hecker's  career  is 
becoming  more  and  more  appreciated  in  Europe  since 
his  life  and  writings  have  been  made  known  there. 


INTERPRETATIONS  OF  FATHER  HECKER  651 

"Wishing  you  the  holy  joys  of  the  Easter  season, 
1  am 

"Yours  most  faithfully, 

"J.  Cardinal  Gibbons." 

Had  the  telling  of  the  story  of  Hecker's  life  been  left 
to  his  own  coworkers,  who  understood  him,  or  at  least 
to  his  own  fellow-countrymen,  there  would  have  been  no 
trouble;  but  in  1897  an  anonymous  translation  into 
French  of  Elliott's  book  was  made,  which  was  compressed 
and  not  exact,  and  therefore,  in  the  minds  of  many,  did 
not  convey  with  accuracy  the  spirit  of  the  English  ver- 
sion. The  preface  of  the  translation  was  written  by 
Abbe  Klein,  a  professor  in  the  Catholic  Institute  of 
Paris,  whose  mind,  so  far  from  harboring  thought  of 
criticism,  was  expressed  in  ardent  admiration  for  Hecker. 
Mutterings  of  objection  began  to  be  heard  from  the 
conservative  party  among  French  Catholics  and  they 
gathered  momentum.  In  the  same  year,  Monsignor  D. 
J.  O'Connell,  in  an  address  before  a  Catholic  scientific 
congress  at  Fribourg,  outlined  what  were  beginning  to  be 
known  as  American  ideas  in  the  Church,  and  expressed 
his  earnest  approval  of  them. 

The  debate  was  intensified  when  L*  Abbe  Maignen,  of 
the  Congregation  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  wrote  a  com- 
mentary upon  Elliott's  book,  and  a  vigorous  reply  to  some 
of  Hecker's  ideas  as  Maignen  interpreted  them.  Maig- 
nen entitled  his  own  book  Le  Fere  Hecker;  est-il  un 
Saint?  and  afterward  issued  an  English  version  of  it  with 
some  changes  entitled  Father  Hecker;  Is  He  a  Saint? 
Cardinal  Richard,  Archbishop  of  Paris,  to  whom  jurisdic- 
tion in  this  case  properly  belonged,  refused  his  imprima- 


652  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

tur  for  the  work.  Abbe  Maignen  then  applied  to  Father 
Lepidi,  a  Dominican  monk,  master  of  the  sacred  palace  in 
Rome,  who  gave  the  imprimatur  of  the  Vatican,  and  thus 
brought  the  subject  directly  to  attention  in  Rome. 

Like  a  fire  which  gathers  fury  from  unknown  and 
powerful  sources,  spreading  with  a  rapidity  which  dis- 
mays those  who  would  arrest  its  progress,  the  discussion 
was  soon  agitating  Europe  to  an  extraordinary  degree. 
Among  Americans  it  attracted  little  attention  at  first,  for 
they  saw  no  cause  for  it,  and  believed  that  it  would  soon 
decline.  But  it  aroused  their  apprehensions  as  one  argu- 
ment after  another  based  upon  a  false  view  of  what 
Hecker  taught,  based  indeed  upon  a  misapprehension  of 
his  entire  work,  rolled  forth  in  speech  and  pamphlet 
abroad.  Starting  from  an  incorrect  premise,  one  contro- 
versialist would  build  a  chain  of  reasoning,  carrying  the 
inaccuracy  further.  Some  one  else  would  take  up  the 
complication  where  he  left  it  off,  and  aggravate  it  by  a 
new  display  of  logic,  finally  entangling  the  whole  subject 
in  hopeless  confusion. 

American  Catholics  did  not  hesitate  to  admit  that,  if 
the  foreign  interpreters  of  Hecker  correctly  stated  the 
subject,  there  would  be  room  for  doubt  as  to  whether  it 
was  desirable  to  accept  his  views;  but  they  urged  with 
vehemence  that  it  was  a  false  Hecker  who  was  being 
debated,  and  not  the  real  missionary  whose  saintly  life 
and  consecrated  labors  had  reaped  a  harvest  of  souls 
such  as  few  men  had  reaped. 

Only  the  Pope  could  speak  with  final  authority.  Leo 
set  himself  to  the  task  and  on  January  22,  1899,  ad- 
dressed to  Cardinal  Gibbons  a  long  letter  which  had  the 


INTERPRETATIONS  OF  FATHER  HECKER  553 

effect  of  closing  the  discussion.^  He  began  by  saying 
that  the  publication  of  the  life  of  Father  Hecker  "espe- 
cially as  interpreted  and  translated  into  a  foreign  lan- 
guage" had  excited  controversy  because  of  the  opinions 
which  it  had  voiced  concerning  the  ways  of  leading  a 
Christian  life.  Some  of  these  opinions,  as  expressed  in 
the  foreign  translations  and  interpretations,  he  con- 
demned; but  he  expressly  assented  to  the  primary  pro- 
posal of  Hecker  when  he  declared  that  the  "rule  of  life 
laid  down  for  Catholics  is  not  of  such  a  nature  that  it 
cannot  accommodate  itself  to  the  exigencies  of  various 
times  and  places."  He  also  declared  that  the  Church 
had  never  neglected  to  accommodate  herself  to  the  char- 
acter and  genius  of  the  nations.  This,  in  the  view  of 
Americans,  embraced  all  of  real  importance  that  Hecker 
had  maintained. 

There  seems  to  have  been  no  doubt  that  the  Pontiff  saw 
in  the  aspect  which  Heckerism  took  before  the  eyes  of 
Europe  a  real  danger  to  Catholic  truth,  whose  correction 
he  deemed  necessary.  His  letter,  therefore,  was  a  warn- 
ing against  current  evils,  rather  than  against  the  teach- 
ings of  Hecker.  The  following  passages  give  the  essen- 
tials of  the  Papal  decision: 

"The  underlying  principles  of  these  new  opinions  is 
that,  in  order  more  easily  to  attract  those  who  differ  from 
her,  the  Church  should  shape  her  teachings  more  in  accord 
with  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  relax  some  of  her  ancient 
severity  and  make  some  concessions  to  new  opinions. 
Many  think  that  these  concessions  should  be  made  not 
only  in  regard  to  ways  of  living,  but  even  in  regard  to 
doctrines  which  belong  to  the  deposit  of  the  faith.  They 

'Cathedral  Archives,  Baltimore. 


654  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

contend  that  it  would  be  opportune,  in  order  to  gain  those 
who  differ  from  us,  to  omit  certain  points  of  her  teach- 
ing which  are  of  lesser  importance,  and  so  to  tone  down 
the  meaning  which  the  Church  has  always  attached  to 
them.  It  does  not  need  many  words,  beloved  son,  to 
prove  the  falsity  of  these  ideas  if  the  nature  and  origin 
of  the  doctrines  which  the  Church  proposes  are  recalled 
to  mind.  .  .  . 

"Let  it  be  far  from  any  one's  mind  to  suppress  for  any 
reason  any  doctrine  that  has  been  handed  down.  Such 
a  policy  would  tend  rather  to  separate  Catholics  from  the 
Church  than  to  bring  in  those  who  differ.  There  is 
nothing  closer  to  our  heart  than  to  have  those  who  are 
separated  from  the  fold  of  Christ  return  to  her,  but  in 
no  other  way  than  the  way  pointed  out  by  Christ. 

"The  rule  of  life  laid  down  for  Catholics  is  not  of  such 
a  nature  that  it  can  not  accommodate  itself  to  the  exi- 
gencies of  various  times  and  places.  The  Church  has, 
guided  by  her  Divine  Master,  a  kind  and  merciful  spirit, 
for  which  reason  from  the  very  beginning  she  has  been 
what  St.  Paul  said  of  himself:  T  became  all  things  to  all 
men  that  I  might  save  all.' 

"History  proves  clearly  that  the  Apostolic  See,  to 
which  has  been  entrusted  the  mission  not  only  of  teach- 
ing, but  of  governing  the  whole  Church,  has  continued  'in 
one  and  the  same  doctrine,  one  and  the  same  sense,  and 
one  and  the  same  judgment.' 

"But  in  regard  to  ways  of  living,  she  has  been  accus- 
tomed so  to  moderate  her  discipline  that,  the  Divine  prin- 
ciple of  morals  being  kept  intact,  she  has  never  neglected 
to  accommodate  herself  to  the  character  and  genius  of 
the  nations  which  she  embraces. 

"Who  can  doubt  that  she  will  act  in  the  same  spirit 
again  if  the  salvation  of  souls  requires  it?  In  this  mat- 
ter the  Church  must  be  the  judge,  not  private  men,  who 
are  often  deceived  by  the  appearance  of  right.    In  this, 


INTERPRETATIONS  OF  FATHER  HECKER  555 

all  who  wish  to  escape  the  blame  of  our  predecessor,  Pius 
VI,  must  concur.  He  condemned  as  injurious  to  the 
Church  and  the  Spirit  of  God  who  guides  her,  the  doc- 
trine contained  in  proposition  Ixxviii  of  the  Synod  of 
Pistoia,  'that  the  discipline  made  and  approved  by  the 
Church  should  be  submitted  to  examination,'  as  if  the 
Church  could  frame  a  code  of  laws  useless  or  heavier  than 
human  liberty  can  bear. 

"It  is  alleged  that  now,  the  Vatican  decree  concerning 
the  infallible  teaching  authority  of  the  Roman  Pontiff 
having  been  proclaimed,  nothing  further  on  that  score 
can  give  any  solicitude,  and  accordingly,  since  that  has 
been  safeguarded  and  put  beyond  question,  a  wider  and 
freer  field  both  for  thought  and  action  lies  open  to  each 
one.  But  such  reasoning  is  evidently  faulty,  since  if  we 
are  to  come  to  any  conclusion  from  the  infallible  teach- 
ing authority  of  the  Church,  it  should  rather  be  that  no 
one  should  wish  to  depart  from  it,  and,  moreover,  that 
the  minds  of  all  being  leavened  and  directed  thereby, 
greater  security  from  private  error  would  be  enjoyed  by 
all.  And  further,  those  who  avail  themselves  of  such  a 
way  of  reasoning  seem  to  depart  seriously  from  the  over- 
ruling wisdom  of  the  Most  High — which  wisdom,  since 
it  w^as  pleased  to  set  forth  by  most  solemn  decision  the 
authority  and  supreme  teaching  rights  of  this  Apostolic 
See — willed  that  decision  precisely  in  order  to  safeguard 
the  minds  of  the  Church's  children  from  the  dangers  of 
these  present  times. 

"These  dangers,  viz.,  the  confounding  of  license  with 
liberty,  the  passion  for  discussing  and  pouring  contempt 
upon  any  possible  subject,  the  assumed  right  to  hold  what- 
ever opinions  one  pleases  upon  any  subject  and  to  set 
them  forth  in  print  to  the  world,  have  so  wrapped  minds 
in  darkness  that  there  is  now  a  greater  need  of  the 
Church's  teaching  office  than  ever  before,  lest  people  be- 
come unmindful  both  of  conscience  and  of  duty. 


556  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

"We,  indeed,  have  no  thought  of  rejecting  everything 
that  modern  industry  and  study  have  produced;  so  far 
from  it,  we  welcome  to  the  patrimony  of  truth  and 
to  an  everwidening  scope  of  public  well-being  whatsoever 
helps  toward  the  progress  of  learning  and  virtue.  Yet  all 
this,  to  be  of  any  solid  benefit,  nay,  to  have  a  real  exist- 
ence and  growth,  can  only  be  on  the  condition  of  recog- 
nizing the  wisdom  and  authority  of  the  Church.  .  .  . 

"Nor  can  we  leave  out  of  consideration  the  truth  that 
those  who  are  striving  after  perfection,  since  by  that  fact 
they  walk  in  no  beaten  or  well-known  path,  are  the  most 
liable  to  stray,  and  hence  have  greater  need  than  others 
of  a  teacher  and  guide.  Such  guidance  has  ever  obtained 
in  the  Church ;  it  has  been  the  universal  teaching  of  those 
who  throughout  the  ages  have  been  eminent  for  wisdom 
and  sanctity — and  hence  to  reject  it  would  be  to  commit 
one's  self  to  a  belief  at  once  rash  and  dangerous.  .  .  . 

"This  overesteem  of  natural  virtue  finds  a  method  of 
expression  in  assuming  to  divide  all  virtues  into  active 
and  passive,  and  it  is  alleged  that  whereas  passive  vir- 
tues found  better  place  in  past  times,  our  age  is  to  be 
characterized  by  the  active.  That  such  a  division  and 
distinction  can  not  be  maintained  is  patent — for  there 
is  not,  nor  can  there  be,  merely  passive  virtue.  'Virtue,' 
says  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  'designates  the  perfection  of 
some  faculty,  but  the  end  of  such  faculty  is  an  act,  and 
an  act  of  virtue  is  naught  else  than  the  good  use  of  free 
will,'  acting,  that  is  to  say,  under  the  grace  of  God  if  the 
act  be  one  of  supernatural  virtue.  .  .  . 

"From  the  foregoing  it  is  manifest,  beloved  son,  that 
we  are  not  able  to  give  approval  to  those  views  which,  in 
their  collective  sense,  are  called  by  some  'Americanism.' 
But  if  by  this  name  are  to  be  understood  certain  endow- 
ments of  mind  which  belong  to  the  American  people,  just 
as  other  characteristics  belong  to  various  other  nations; 
and  if,  moreover,  by  it  is  designated  your  political  condi- 


INTERPRETATIONS  OF  FATHER  HECKER  557 

tions  and  the  laws  and  customs  by  which  you  are  gov- 
erned, there  is  no  reason  to  take  exception  to  the  name. 
But  if  this  is  to  be  so  understood  that  the  doctrines  which 
have  been  adverted  to  above  are  not  only  indicated,  but 
exalted,  there  can  be  no  manner  of  doubt  that  our  ven- 
erable brethren,  the  Bishops  of  America,  would  be  the 
first  to  repudiate  and  condemn  them  as  being  most  in- 
jurious to  themselves  and  to  their  country.  For  it  would 
give  rise  to  the  suspicion  that  there  are  among  you  some 
who  conceive,  and  would  have,  the  Church  in  America 
to  be  different  from  what  it  is  in  the  rest  of  the  world. 

"But  the  true  Church  is  one,  as  by  unity  of  doctrine,  so 
by  unity  of  government,  and  she  is  Catholic  also.  Since 
God  has  placed  the  center  and  foundation  of  unity  in  the 
chair  of  Blessed  Peter,  she  is  rightly  called  the  Roman 
Church,  for  'where  Peter  is,  there  is  the  Church.'  Where- 
fore, if  anybody  wishes  to  be  considered  a  real  Catholic, 
he  ought  to  be  able  to  say  from  his  heart  the  self-same 
words  which  Jerome  addressed  to  Pope  Damasus:  'I, 
acknowledging  no  other  leader  than  Christ,  am  bound 
in  fellowship  with  your  Holiness;  that  is,  with  the  Chair 
of  Peter.  I  know  that  the  Church  was  built  upon  him  as 
its  rock,  and  that  whosoever  gathereth  not  with  you  scat- 
tereth.'  " 

As  the  letter  was  sifted  and  its  real  meaning  was  seen 
clearly,  it  came  to  be  accepted  that  while  Leo  had  di- 
rected his  admonitions  at  real  evils  they  were  not  such 
as  were  characteristic  of  America ;  that  they  were  merely 
abnormal  views  born  and  nurtured  abroad,  and  that  in 
correcting  them  the  Pope  had  performed  a  necessary  serv- 
ice. This  was  the  view  of  Cardinal  Gibbons,  as  chown 
by  the  following  entry  in  his  journal: 

"March  17  [1899].  I  sent  the  Holy  Father  a  reply 
to  his  letter  received  February  17th  on  the  subject  of 


r>58  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Americanism.  After  thanking  his  Holiness  for  dispelling 
the  cloud  of  misunderstanding,  I  assured  him  that  the 
false  conceptions  of  Americanism  emanating  from  Eu- 
rope have  no  existence  among  the  prelates,  priests  and 
Catholic  laity  of  our  country." 


While  Gibbons  was  shocked  that  this  "cloud  of  mis- 
understanding" had  arisen,  he  found  cause  for  especial 
satisfaction  in  its  early  disappearance.  Americanism  in 
its  real  meaning  stood  as  it  did  before.  The  expression  of 
Leo  was  accepted  as  an  enlightened  view  of  modern  con- 
ditions, based  upon  thorough  obedience  to  the  doctrine 
and  discipline  of  the  Church. 

Archbishop  Ireland,  champion  of  Father  Hecker,  wrote 
to  the  Pope  emphasizing  the  fact  that  he  had  never,  for 
a  single  instant,  opened  his  soul  to  such  extravagances  as 
had  been  massed  abroad  under  the  hallowed  name  of  the 
Paulist  leader.  A  wrong  had  been  done  to  the  whole 
episcopate  of  the  United  States,  he  held,  by  the  discus- 
sion, under  the  term  "Americanism,"  of  such  errors  as 
the  Pontiff  had  condemned.    He  wrote : 

"Today  light  has  come;  misunderstandings  cease. 
Today  we  are  in  a  condition  to  define  the  fault  which 
some  have  wished  to  cover  with  the  name  of  Americanism, 
and  define  the  truth,  which  alone  Americans  call  Ameri- 
canism. .  .  .  Seeing  the  astonishing  confusion  of  ideas 
and  the  virulent  controversies  stirred  up,  especially  in 
France,  about  the  book,  The  Life  of  Father  Hecker,,  the 
extent  of  which  can  be  measured  by  the  Apostolic  letter, 
I  can  no  longer  be  blind  to  the  fact  that  it  was  a  neces- 
sity for  the  chief  pastor  to  raise  his  voice  to  enlighten 
and  pacify  men's  minds." 


INTERPRETATIONS  OF  FATHER  HECKER  559 

The  Paulist  Fathers  sent  a  letter  to  Rome  fully  em- 
bracing the  doctrines  of  Leo,  from  which  they  have  never 
thought  of  departing.  They  had  felt  as  a  deep  wound  in- 
flicted upon  themselves  the  extravagances  which  had 
marked  the  polemics  in  Europe  that  centered  around 
Hecker's  name. 

The  Church  in  America  wavered  not  as  a  result  of  en- 
countering this  storm.  Her  mission  was  not  to  be 
hampered  by  violent  extremes  of  opinion.  Guided  and 
inspired  by  the  far-sighted  Cardinal  who  led  her  hosts  in 
their  onward  march,  her  numbers  multiplied  with  in- 
creasing rapidity;  new  dioceses  sprang  up;  churches, 
chapels  and  schools  were  built  on  a  scale  of  increase  which 
but  a  decade  or  two  before  would  have  seemed  impossible 
anywhere  in  the  world.  Her  vitality  was  the  vitality  of 
the  people ;  thus  she  proved  the  word  of  Gibbons. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 
COLUMBIAN  FETES— PARLIAMENT  OF  RELIGIONS 

By  the  time  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  in  Chicago, 
which  marked  the  four  hundredth  year  since  the  dis- 
covery of  America,  Gibbons  had  come  to  be  regarded 
more  than  any  other  American  in  non-political  life  as  a 
necessary  participant  in  national  undertakings  of  a 
patriotic  and  humanitarian  character,  as  well  as  in  a 
multitude  of  lesser  ones.  He  was  besieged  with  invita- 
tions and  responded  to  so  many  of  them  by  extending  his 
cooperation,  that  it  seemed  as  if  he  were  seriously  over- 
taxing himself  by  these  versatile  labors.  Letters  from 
him  were  read  on  many  platforms  by  the  supporters  of 
movements  of  civic  advance,  material  utility  and  public 
benevolence;  and  he  bestowed  them  upon  all  alike,  re- 
gardless of  creed,  when  causes  in  their  broader  aspects, 
appealed  to  him. 

In  nearly  all  of  these  cases  the  use  of  his  name  was 
regarded  by  Catholics,  Protestants,  Jews,  whomsoever  it 
might  be  in  the  mass  of  elements  in  the  country's  popu- 
lation, as  the  most  conspicuous  and  powerful  in  its  help 
to  their  purposes,  save  only  that  of  the  President.  Every 
word  on  such  subjects  that  he  wrote — and  in  the  aggre- 
gate these  words  would  fill  volumes — was  printed  by 
newspapers,  much  of  it  transmitted  over  the  crowded 

wires  of  the  press  associations,  for  the  only  reason  opera- 

5&> 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  561 

tive  in  producing  such  a  result — the  public  desired  it. 
There  was,  indeed,  a  Gibbons  vogue,  a  form  of  popular 
predilection  for  hearing,  reading  and  heeding  his  views, 
for  which  the  newspapers  did  not  try  to  account,  but 
merely  accepted  it  as  a  fact  of  which  they  ought  to  be 
aware. 

His  words  not  only  had  more  weight  in  the  country 
at  large  than  any  other  man's,  except  the  President's, 
but  in  not  a  few  cases  more  than  any  other  man's  without 
exception,  because  they  were  not  associated  at  any  time 
with  political  expediency  or  party  divisions.  The  mass 
of  Americans  had  formed  the  deliberate  conclusion,  of 
which  there  were  abundant  evidences,  that  he  spoke 
sanely,  calmly,  unselfishly,  frankly,  courageously.  They 
accepted  his  utterances,  no  matter  on  what  subject,  as 
emibodying  these  characteristics,  and  welcomed  them  for 
their  refreshing  contrast  to  what  they  were  accustomed  to 
hear  from  evanescent  leaders  in  political  life. 

Wherever  the  words  were  heard  in  the  voice  of  him 
whose  mind  shaped  them — for  Gibbons  was  ready  to 
appear  in  public  when  time  and  circumstances  permitted, 
as  well  as  to  have  his  endorsements  or  other  comments 
read  in  his  absence — the  effect  was  heightened.  His  per- 
sonal magnetism  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  foremost 
factors  in  his  popularity.  In  any  gathering  he  seemed 
to  be  the  chief,  and  the  crowd,  as  by  a  psychic  impulse, 
turned  to  him  from  the  moment  of  his  entrance.  The 
slender,  appealing  figure,  the  benevolent  but  keen  and 
alert  face,  the  active  and  springy  step,  the  ever-present 
dignity  combined  with  social  grace,  ease  and  simple  di- 
rectness of  manner,  won  men's  hearts.    His  appearance 


662  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

fitted  perfectly  with  the  character  of  his  thoughts  and 
the  character  of  the  man.  He  was  instantaneously  re- 
sponsive to  any  situation,  quick  to  accept  an  idea,  to  turn 
a  phrase,  to  fall  in  with  the  spirit  of  an  occasion,  to  drive 
home  an  argument,  to  disarm  opposition  by  the  force  of 
his  personality  as  much  as  by  the  force  of  his  thoughts 
and  words.  He  had  the  power  of  convincing  others 
without  antagonizing  them.  The  spirit  of  the  man  shone 
out  through  him  as  if  he  had  been  transparent. 

He  was  now  in  the  prime  of  his  powers,  which  in  his 
case  were  almost  uniformly  at  the  maximum  between  the 
ages  of  fifty  and  sixty-five  years.  Though  still  appearing 
to  be  physically  frail  and  hampered  constantly  by  his  old 
trouble  of  poor  digestion,  which  starved  his  body 
of  a  part  of  the  sustenance  that  its  intense  activity 
required,  he  had  learned  to  disregard  his  physical  condi- 
tion in  the  pursuit  of  the  great  objects  which  engrossed 
him.  He  seemed  not  to  stop  and  think  whether  he  was 
strong  enough  to  undertake  a  new  labor  or  not.  Even 
when  feeling  sick  or  depressed,  he  would  take  physical 
risks  which  in  the  case  of  an  ordinary  person  would  have 
meant  the  imminent  danger  of  collapse. 

Those  who  knew  him  best  knew  that  he  was  unafraid 
of  collapse;  that  he  was  willing  to  be  wounded,  griev- 
ously wounded,  even  mortally  stricken  at  his  post  of 
duty,  but  that  nothing  could  induce  him  to  turn  back. 
Members  of  his  household  and  solicitous  persons  among 
the  cloud  of  his  friends  in  civil  life  begged  him  not  to 
work  so  hard.  He  listened  with  a  smile,  completely  heed- 
less of  their  advice. 

His  immense  power  of  quick  recuperation  seldom  failed 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  563 

him.  Sometimes  when  his  vital  forces  were  obviously  at 
a  low  ebb  after  a  heavy  strain,  and  his  pallor  seemed 
almost  unearthly,  he  would  retire,  usually  after  dinner, 
for  a  brief  period  of  rest  and  seclusion,  and  emerge  with 
the  red  blood  surging  over  his  countenance  and  beating 
through  his  veins  with  fiery  energy.  To  most  persons 
who  observed  him  at  close  range,  he  was  a  physical 
enigma  who  excited  their  constant  wonder,  but  his  phy- 
sician knew  that  he  was  organically  as  sound  as  an  ath- 
lete, and  that  the  appearances  of  frailty  and  fatigue  were 
chiefly  due  to  the  chronic  but  not  irreparable  drawback 
of  sluggish  functioning  by  the  stomach. 

Above  all  he  was  sustained  by  a  bubbling  zest  and 
interest  that  animated  him  like  a  draught  of  a  powerful 
tonic.  He  was  keen  for  work,  keen  for  social  diversion, 
keen  for  physical  exercise  and  for  everything  that  came 
up  in  the  course  of  his  varied  life.  His  intense  concen- 
tration, one  of  the  most  useful  powers  which  he  pos- 
sessed, was  in  evidence  in  everything  to  which  he  turned 
his  thought  or  his  hand.  He  preached  from  his  pulpit  in 
the  Baltimore  Cathedral,  attended  to  his  exceptionally 
voluminous  correspondence,  waged  campaigns  within 
and  without  the  Church  for  causes  which  he  had  at  heart, 
romped  in  his  study  with  altar  boys  after  vespers,  and 
told  stories  to  friends  who  dropped  in  to  chat  with  him, 
all  with  a  vigor,  naturalness  and  interest  that  seemed 
unfailing.  His  mind  responded  to  every  call;  only  his 
body  was  refractory,  and  he  would  not  permit  it  to  im- 
pede him. 

It  was  inevitable  that  he  should  be  an  important  fig- 
ure in  the  events  of  the  World's  Fair  year,  marked  as  it 


664  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

was  by  one  of  those  periodical  outbursts  of  national  feel- 
ing which  American  ebullience  seems  to  demand.  We 
have  already  seen  that  he  was  the  medium  through  which 
the  Washington  government  obtained  the  loan  of  the 
treasured  Columbian  relics  of  the  Vatican  for  the  Fair, 
and  how  this  led  to  the  appointment  of  Archbishop  Sa- 
tolli  as  their  custodian  and  also  as  Papal  Delegate  to  the 
Church  in  America.  For  the  ceremonies  that  marked  the 
dedication  of  the  Fair  at  Chicago,  which  were  conceived 
on  a  scale  that  involved  participation  by  a  group  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  nation,  he  was  invited  to  offer  prayer. 
He  performed  the  same  office  at  the  celebration  of  Mary- 
land Day  there.  At  a  Congress  of  Catholic  Laymen  held 
in  connection  with  the  Fair,  he  made  an  address  and  con- 
veyed the  Papal  benediction.  In  the  Parliament  of  Re- 
ligions, which  was  one  of  the  most  important  of  the 
many  conventions  that  were  held  at  Chicago  in  that 
year,  he  was  one  of  the  leading  participants. 

The  Catholic  world  was  naturally  moved  by  the  com- 
memorative display,  for  Columbus  had  professed  reli- 
gious motives  as  his  inspiration  for  the  voyage  that 
opened  the  western  continent  to  communication  with  the 
older  civilizations.  It  could  not  be  forgotten  that 
Isabella  the  Catholic  had  been  the  patron  of  the  dis- 
coverer, and  that  her  heart  opened  to  his  appeals  when 
he  had  almost  despaired  from  the  rebuffs  which  he  had 
received  at  the  hands  of  other  sovereigns.  In  the  sym- 
pathetic atmosphere  of  the  convent  of  La  Rabida  he  had 
matured  his  great  project. 

There  was  no  doubt  that  while  economic  causes  had 
given  birth  to  the  general  movement  which  led  to  the  dis- 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  565 

covery  of  hitherto  unknown  lands  in  that  wonderful  age 
of  exploration,  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the  Christian 
religion  played  a  great  part  in  the  immediate  inspiration 
of  those  who  accomplished  the  largest  results;  nor  could 
it  be  forgotten  that  had  Columbus  sailed  westward  as  he 
desired,  instead  of  yielding  to  the  advice  of  Pinzon  and 
following  the  flight  of  birds,  he  would  have  touched  the 
mainland  of  Florida  on  his  first  voyage,  and  all  of  North 
America  might  have  been  Catholic,  instead  of  predomi- 
nantly Protestant/ 

Leo  XIII  spoke  for  the  Catholic  world  in  a  letter  upon 
Columbus  which  he  issued  on  July  16,  1892,  to  the  Arch- 
bishops and  Bishops  of  Spain,  Italy  and  the  two  Amer- 
icas, in  which  he  took  this  view: 

"It  is  indubitable  that  the  Catholic  faith  was  the 
strongest  motive  for  the  inception  and  prosecution  of  the 
design;  so  that  for  this  reason  also  the  whole  human 
race  owes  not  a  little  to  the  Church.  .  .  .  We  say  not 
that  he  was  unmoved  by  perfectly  honorable  aspirations 
after  knowledge,  and  deserving  well  of  human  society; 
nor  did  he  despise  glory,  which  is  a  most  engrossing  idea 
to  great  souls,  nor  did  he  altogether  scorn  a  hope  of  ad- 
vantages to  himself;  but  to  him,  far  before  all  these 
human  considerations,  was  the  consideration  of  his 
ancient  faith,  which  without  question  dowered  him  with 
strength  of  mind  and  will  and  often  strengthened  him 
and  consoled  him  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  difficulties. 
This  view  and  aim  is  known  to  have  possessed  his  mind 
above  all;  namely  'to  open  the  way  to  the  gospel  over 
new  lands  and  seas.'  " 

The  Pontiff  proceeded  to  declare  that  Columbus  dis- 
covered America  at  a  time  when  a  great  storm  was  about 

*  Justin  Winsor,  Christopher  Columbus,  p.  206. 


566  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

to  break  over  the  Church  "and  that  it  seemed  he  was  de- 
signed by  a  special  plan  of  God  to  compensate  her  for 
the  injury  which  she  was  destined  to  suffer  in  Europe." 
He  ordered  that  on  October  12,  1892,  or  the  following 
Sunday,  the  Mass  of  the  Holy  Trinity  should  be  cele- 
brated in  all  the  Cathedrals  throughout  Spain,  Italy  and 
the  two  Americas. 

Gibbons  followed  this  with  a  pastoral  letter  to  the 
clergy  and  laity  of  the  archdiocese  of  Baltimore,  in  which 
he  exhorted  gratitude  for  the  spiritual  and  material  bene- 
fits that  had  followed  the  voyages  of  Columbus.  Amer- 
ica, he  said,  was  the  congenial  home  of  liberty,  "and  the 
truest  democracy  allied  with  stable  government."  He 
held  that  peace  and  happiness,  as  far,  perhaps,  as  they 
are  attainable  on  earth,  resulted  from  these  favored  con- 
ditions, saying: 

"Climate,  soil,  vegetation  and  mineral  products,  found 
in  almost  endless  variety  and  profusion,  conspire  to  make 
our  country  the  most  desirable  in  the  world.  Nor  can  we 
forget  to  note,  with  a  love  for  our  religion  as  strong  and 
as  true  as  that  for  our  country,  the  magnificent  expansion 
God  has  given  to  the  Church,  and  how  sturdily  and  fruit- 
fully this  flower  of  Christian  faith  has  grown  untram- 
meled  under  the  benign  influences  of  our  republican  in- 
stitutions." ^ 

Gibbons  had  called  a  meeting  in  Baltimore  a  month 
before  that  time  to  arrange  a  local  celebration.  Under 
his  guidance  the  plans  rapidly  took  shape.  On  October 
12,  the  Italians  of  the  city  unveiled  a  monument  to  Co- 
lumbus, at  which  the  Cardinal  made  an  address.     He 

"  Cathedral  Archives,  Baltimore. 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  567 

emphasized  that  Americans  were  above  all  indebted  to 
two  men,  Columbus  and  Washington,  and  accepted  the 
Pope's  view  in  declaring  that  the  great  mariner  had  been 
inspired  by  the  lofty  ambition  of  carrying  the  light  of 
the  Gospel  to  unknown  lands. 

On  the  following  Sunday,  splendid  services  were  held 
in  the  Cathedral,  at  which  the  Cardinal  pontificated. 
Archbishops  Satolli  and  Ireland  lent  their  presence  to  the 
occasion.  Catholic  laity  and  pupils  of  the  parochial 
schools  to  the  number  of  30,000  took  part  in  a  procession 
through  the  streets  on  the  2 1  st,  when  the  celebration  was 
general  throughout  the  United  States,  in  accordance  with 
a  proclamation  of  the  President  designating  as  a  national 
holiday  that  day — the  real  anniversary,  in  accordance 
with  the  correction  of  the  Julian  calendar  by  Gregory 
XIII. 

Gibbons'  prayer  at  the  dedication  of  the  Fair  on  the 
21st  was,  as  usual  with  him  on  such  occasions,  inspired 
by  lofty  patriotism  as  well  as  deep  piety.  The  following 
are  extracts  from  it: 

"Not  only  for  this  earthly  inheritance  do  we  thank 
Thee,  but  still  more  for  the  precious  boon  of  constitu- 
tional freedom  which  we  possess;  for  even  this  favored 
land  of  ours  would  be  to  us  a  dry  and  barren  waste,  if  it 
were  not  moistened  by  the  dew  of  liberty.  We  humbly 
implore  Thee  to  continue  to  bless  our  country  and  her 
cherished  institutions;  and  we  solemnly  promise  today, 
in  this  vast  assembly  and  in  the  name  of  our  fellow-citi- 
zens, to  exert  all  our  energies  in  preserving  this  legacy  un- 
impaired and  in  transmitting  it  as  a  priceless  heirloom  to 
succeeding  generations.  .  .  . 

"Grant,   O   Lord,   that   this   pacific   reunion   of   the 


668  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

world's  representatives  may  be  instrumental  in  binding 
together  in  closer  ties  of  friendship  and  brotherly  love  all 
the  empires  and  commonwealths  of  the  globe.  May  it 
help  to  break  down  the  wall  of  dissension  and  jealousy 
that  divides  race  from  race,  nation  from  nation,  and  peo- 
ple from  people,  by  proclaiming  the  sublime  lesson  of 
the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  Christ. 
.  .  .  Arise,  O  God,  in  Thy  might  and  hasten  the  day 
when  the  reign  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  will  be  firmly  es- 
tablished on  the  earth,  when  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel  will 
so  far  sway  the  minds  and  hearts  of  rulers  that  the  crash 
of  war  will  be  silenced  forever  by  the  cheerful  hum  of 
industry,  when  standing  armies  will  surrender  to  per- 
manent courts  of  arbitration,  when  contests  will  be  car- 
ried on  in  the  cabinet  instead  of  on  the  battlefield,  and 
decided  by  the  pen  instead  of  the  sword." 

There  was  much  discussion  concerning  the  question  of 
opening  the  Fair  on  Sundays,  and  on  this  subject  Gibbons 
took  a  pronounced  stand.  In  a  letter  in  November,  1892, 
he  wrote : 

"The  Sunday  closing  of  this  spectacle  would  be  very 
unfortunate  for  thousands  of  our  countrymen,  who  would 
be  tempted  to  spend  the  day  in  dissipation.  In  their 
name,  I  would  favor  the  opening  of  the  Fair  Sunday 
afternoon  to  evening,  with  the  provision  that  all  the  ma- 
chinery should  be  stopped  and  all  mechanical  and  labor- 
ing work  that  will  not  be  urgent  and  necessary,  cease." 

The  course  which  he  advocated  and  of  which  Catholics 
were  generally  in  favor  was  adopted.  Gibbons  took  the 
view  that  Sunday  was  not  only  a  time  for  rest  and  re- 
ligious observance,  but  also  for  irmocent  recreation.  He 
held  that  Catholics,  having  performed  the  religious 
duties  required  of  them  in  the  morning,  were  free  to 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  669 

spend  the  day  in  such  relaxation  as  was  becoming  to  Sun- 
day; in  particular,  he  was  desirous  that  the  Fair  should 
be  opened  during  a  part  of  that  day  in  order  that  the 
workingmen  of  Chicago  and  its  vicinity  might  have  a 
good  opportunity  to  see  it.  He  was,  of  course,  wholly 
lacking  in  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  the  old  Puritan 
Sabbath,  and  he  regarded  the  observance  of  the  day  in 
America,  outside  of  a  few  large  cities,  as  being  eminently 
satisfactory  at  that  time. 

A  new  indication  of  his  tolerance  of  view  was  found  in 
the  attitude  which  he  took  regarding  participation  by 
Catholics  in  the  Parliament  of  Religions.  When  that 
project  was  considered  at  a  meeting  of  the  Archbishops 
in  New  York  in  the  autumn  of  1892,  some  objections 
were  made ;  but  the  Cardinal  took  a  pronounced  stand  in 
favor  of  participation  and  in  the  end  the  prelates  decided 
to  accept  the  invitation. 

He  could  see  no  merit  in  the  suggestion  that  the  part 
which  Catholics  would  take  in  the  convention  would  in- 
volve any  recognition  or  approval  of  the  numerous  sects 
within  and  without  the  circle  of  Christianity  that  were 
to  be  represented  there.  Recalling  that  St.  Paul  had 
preached  before  the  Areopagus,  he  said  that  he  hoped  to 
reach  in  the  Parliament  of  Religions  a  peculiar  audience, 
with  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  get  in  touch  again. 
The  Church,  he  declared,  was  too  often  presented  to  the 
world  in  apparel  that  made  her  repulsive  to  the  people. 
His  aim  was  to  discard  these  garments  and,  as  he  re- 
marked, "let  all  see  the  Church  in  her  true  beauty — a 
beauty  sure  to  endear  her  to  all  lovers  of  the  truth;  the 
more  the  Church  is  known,  the  better  she  is  liked." 


670  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

The  Anglicans,  under  the  inspiration  of  Archbishop 
Benson,  declined  to  take  part  in  the  parliament.  How 
far  Gibbons  differed  from  their  view  was  indicated  fur- 
ther by  his  letter  accepting  the  personal  invitation  to  the 
gathering  which  was  sent  to  him.    He  wrote : 

"I  deem  the  movement  you  are  engaged  in  promoting 
worthy  of  all  encouragement  and  praise.  ...  I  rejoice 
to  learn  that  the  project  for  a  religious  congress  has  al- 
ready won  the  sympathies  and  enlisted  the  active  co- 
operation of  those  in  the  front  rank  of  human  thought  and 
progress,  even  in  other  lands  than  ours.  If  conducted 
with  moderation  and  good-will,  such  a  congress  may  re- 
sult, by  the  blessing  of  Divine  Providence,  in  benefits 
more  far-reaching  than  the  most  sanguine  could  dare  to 
hope  for." 

The  name  of  Gibbons  was  among  the  first  on  the  list 
of  speakers,  closely  followed  by  that  of  Ameer  Ali,  a 
Mussulman  of  Calcutta.  Archbishop  Feehan,  of  Chi- 
cago, was  on  a  committee  of  which  a  Presbyterian  minis- 
ter was  chairman.  In  the  speeches  welcoming  the  par- 
liament to  the  city,  Feehan  spoke  in  behalf  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church. 

Gibbons  suffered  a  serious  attack  of  illness  as  the  time 
for  the  convention  was  at  hand,  but  he  would  not  give  up 
his  intention  to  join  in  the  sessions.  In  a  preliminary 
address  to  the  gathering,  he  said : 

"If  I  were  to  consult  the  interest  of  my  health,  I 
should  be  in  bed;  but  as  I  was  anxious  to  say  a  word  in 
response  to  the  kind  speeches  that  have  been  offered,  I 
can  not  fail  to  present  myself,  at  least,  to  show  my  inter- 
est in  the  great  undertaking.    I  would  be  wanting  in  mj 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  571 

duty  as  a  minister  of  the  Catholic  Church  if  I  did  not  say 
it  is  our  desire  to  present  the  claims  of  the  Church  to  the 
observation,  and,  if  possible,  to  the  acceptance  of  every 
right-minded  man  who  will  listen  to  us;  but  we  appeal 
only  to  the  tribunal  of  conscience  and  of  intellect. 

*'I  feel  that  in  possessing  the  faith,  I  possess  treasures 
compared  with  which  all  the  treasures  of  this  world  are 
but  dross;  instead  of  keeping  these  treasures  in  my  cof- 
fers, I  would  like  to  share  them  with  others,  especially, 
as  I  am  none  the  poorer  in  making  others  richer.  But, 
though  we  do  not  agree  in  matters  of  faith,  there  is  one 
platform  on  which  we  all  stand  united ;  it  is  the  platform 
of  charity,  of  humanity,  of  benevolence.  .  .  .  We  know 
that  the  Good  Samaritan  rendered  assistance  to  his 
strange  brother,  who  was  of  a  different  name,  a  different 
religion,  a  strange  nationality,  and  with  a  wide  difference 
in  social  life.  That  is  the  model  we  all  should  follow. 
.  .  .  Let  no  man  say,  'Am  I  my  brother's  keeper^'  That 
was  the  language  of  Cain.  I  say  to  you  here  today,  no 
matter  what  may  be  your  faith,  that  you  are  and  ought 
to  be  your  brother's  keeper." 

His  illness  having  become  more  severe,  he  was  un- 
able to  deliver  the  main  address  which  he  had  prepared 
for  the  parliament,  and  it  was  read  by  Bishop  Keane. 
The  subject  was  "The  Needs  of  Humanity  Supplied  by 
the  Catholic  Church."  At  the  outset  he  made  a  general 
defense  of  Christianity,  addressed  to  Mohammedans, 
Brahmins,  and  other  sects  assembled  from  the  corners  of 
the  earth.  If  he  were  not  drawn  to  the  Church,  he  said, 
by  her  unity  of  faith,  which  bound  together  in  a  common 
worship  250,000,000  souls,  by  her  sublime  moral  code, 
by  her  world-wide  Catholicity,  and  "by  that  unbroken 
chain  of  succession  which  connects  her  indissolubly  with 


672  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

Apostolic  times"  still  more  forcibly  would  he  be  drawn 
by  her  wonderful  system  of  organized  benevolence  for 
the  elevation  and  comfort  of  suffering  humanity. 

Gibbons  proceeded  to  state  some  points  in  that  sys- 
tem. He  showed  that  the  Church  had  purified  society  at 
its  fountain  head,  the  marriage  bond,  that  she  had  pro- 
claimed the  sanctity  of  human  life  as  soon  as  the  body 
is  animated  by  the  vital  spark;  that  she  had  established 
asylums  for  invalids,  orphans,  the  aged,  the  sick;  that 
she  labored  not  only  to  assuage  the  physical  distempers  of 
humanity,  but  also  to  reclaim  the  victims  of  moral  dis- 
ease; that  she  had  been  the  unvarying  friend  and  advo- 
cate of  the  slave,  and  that  she  had  ennobled  manual  labor. 

He  made  it  plain  that  he  did  not  hold  that  activity 
in  these  fields  was  restricted  to  Catholics,  saying : 

"I  will  not  deny,  on  the  contrary,  I  am  happy  to  avow, 
that  the  various  Christian  bodies  outside  the  Catholic 
Church  have  been  and  are  today  zealous  promoters  of 
most  of  these  works  of  Christian  benevolence  which  I 
have  enumerated.  .  .  .  But  will  not  our  separated  breth- 
ren have  the  candor  to  acknowledge  that  we  had  first 
possession  of  the  field;  that  these  beneficent  movements 
have  been  inaugurated  by  us;  and  that  the  other  Chris- 
tian communities  in  their  noble  efforts  for  the  moral  arid 
social  regeneration  of  mankind  have  been  stimulated  in 
no  small  measure  by  the  example  and  emulation  of  the 
ancient  Church?" 

He  concluded  with  an  expression  of  the  doctrine  that 
there  is  no  way  by  which  men  approach  nearer  to  God 
than  by  contributing  to  the  welfare  of  their  fellow-men. 

Gibbons  did  not  at  any  time  waver  in  the  hope  that 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  573 

good  results  would  flow  from  the  Parliament  of  Re- 
ligions.   His  journal  contains  this  entry: 

"Oct.  26  [1893].  Sent  Cardinal  Rampolla  a  long 
statement  regarding  the  work  of  the  Parliament  of  Re- 
ligions in  Chicago,  and  the  hopes  entertained  of  its  re- 
sults." 

The  Columbian  Catholic  Congress  at  Chicago  was  a 
continuation  of  the  gathering  of  laymen  instituted  in 
Baltimore  at  the  time  of  the  centennial  of  the  Hierarchy. 
The  Cardinal  made  the  address  with  which  the  Congress 
was  opened,  advising  moderation  in  the  discussions,  and 
presenting  a  letter  from  the  Pope  bestowing  the  Apostolic 
blessing  upon  the  laity  there  assembled. 

As  the  foremost  citizen  of  Maryland,  he  was  naturally 
invited  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  the  observance  of 
Maryland  Day  at  the  Fair,  where  each  of  the  American 
States  held  a  celebration  of  its  own.  He  offered  the 
opening  prayer  and  pronounced  the  benediction,  giving 
thanks  for  the  blessing  of  religious  liberty  which  had  been 
brought  to  St.  Mary's  by  Catholics  and  which  had  since 
spread  over  all  the  United  States. 

The  relics  of  Columbus  were  returned  to  Rome  on  the 
United  States  Cruiser  Detroit^  after  the  close  of  the  Fair. 
Leo,  in  receiving  them,  expressed  satisfaction  that  he  had 
been  able  to  contribute  to  the  success  of  the  great  Ameri- 
can celebration.  He  also  announced  that  he  was  prepar- 
ing an  encyclical  to  the  American  Bishops,  conveying  his 
sentiments  of  especial  affection  for  their  country.  This 
letter,  issued  January  6,  1895,^  pointed  out  what  the  mis- 

*  Encyclical  Longinque  Oceani, 


574.  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

sionaries  of  the  Church  had  done  in  openmg  the  American 
continent  to  civilization,  and  added : 

"Precisely  at  the  epoch  when  the  American  colonies, 
having  with  Catholic  aid  achieved  liberty  and  independ- 
ence, coalesced  into  a  constitutional  republic,  the  ecclesi- 
astical Hierarchy  was  happily  established  amongst  you; 
and  at  the  very  time  when  the  popular  suffrage  placed 
the  great  Washington  at  the  helm  of  the  Republic,  the 
first  Bishop  was  set  by  Apostolic  authority  over  the 
American  Church.  The  well-known  friendship  and  inti- 
mate intercourse  which  subsisted  between  these  two 
men  seems  to  be  an  evidence  that  the  United  States 
ought  to  be  conjoined  in  concord  and  amity  with  the 
Catholic  Church." 

Leo  expressed  his  great  satisfaction  with  the  spirit  of 
the  Church  in  America  in  the  last  part  of  the  century 
then  about  to  close.  He  dwelt  upon  the  "happy  begin- 
ning" which  had  been  made  in  establishing  the  Catholic 
University  at  Washington  under  the  chancellorship  of 
Gibbons,  and  upon  the  development  of  the  Church  which 
had  flowed  from  the  foundations  laid  by  the  decrees  of 
the  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore.  There  was  no 
desire,  he  declared,  to  restrict  the  American  Bishops 
through  the  establishment  of  the  Apostolic  Delegation  in 
Washington.    He  wrote: 

"But  how  unjust  and  cruel  would  be  the  suspicion, 
should  it  anywhere  exist,  that  the  powers  conferred  upon 
the  Legate  are  an  obstacle  to  the  authority  of  the  Bishops  I 
Sacred  to  us  (more  than  to  any  other)  are  the  rights  of 
those  'whom  the  Holy  Ghost  has  placed  as  Bishops  to 
rule  the  Church  of  God.'  That  these  rights  should  remain 
intact  in  every  nation  in  every  part  of  the  globe,  we  both 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  675 

desire  and  ought  to  desire,  the  more  so  since  the  dignity 
of  the  individual  Bishop  is  by  nature  so  interwoven  with 
the  dignity  of  the  Pontiff  that  any  measure  which  benefits 
the  one  necessarily  protects  the  other." 

He  foresaw  a  further  period  of  growth  for  the  Church, 
saying : 

"All  intelligent  men  are  agreed,  and  we  ourselves  have 
intimated  it  with  pleasure,  that  America  seems  destined 
for  greater  things.  Now,  it  is  our  wish  that  the  Catholic 
Church  should  not  only  share  in  but  help  to  bring  about 
this  prospective  greatness.  We  deem  it  right  and  proper 
that  she  should,  by  availing  herself  of  the  opportunities 
daily  presented  to  her,  keep  equal  step  with  the  republic 
in  the  march  of  improvement,  at  the  same  time  striving 
to  the  utmost  by  her  virtue  and  her  institutions  to  aid 
in  the  rapid  growth  of  the  States." 

The  Pope  expressed  his  zeal  for  winning  Protestants 
in  America  to  the  Catholic  faith,  urging  that  Catholics 
"with  mildness  and  charity  draw  them  to  us,  using  every 
means  of  persuasion  to  induce  them  to  examine  closely 
every  part  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  and  to  free  themselves 
from  preconceived  notions."  He  urged  that  the  Catholic 
laity  by  exhibiting  conspicuously  in  their  lives  the  Chris- 
tian virtues  could  aid  powerfully  in  this. 

A  sequel  to  the  Parliament  of  Religions  was  a  renewed 
and  active  discussion  of  the  subject  of  Christian  unity. 
Men  of  different  creeds  bestowed  their  earnest  attention 
upon  it.  Impetus  was  given  to  the  movement  for  reunit- 
ing those  branches  of  .\merican  Protestantism  which  had 
been  separated  by  differences  of  opinion  growing  out  of 
the  slavery  question  in  the  Civil  War.    In  particular,  ef- 


576  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

forts  were  made  to  restore  the  organic  bonds  which  had 
formerly  held  together  the  numerous  branches  of  Meth- 
odism and  of  Presbyterianism  in  America. 

A  Methodist  pastor  at  Taunton,  Massachusetts,  ad- 
dressed several  letters  on  this  subject  to  Gibbons,  to  which 
he  replied.'*  The  Cardinal  agreed  that  aspirations  for  the 
reunion  of  Christendom  were  worthy  of  all  praise,  but 
proceeded  to  show  that  such  reunion  would  be  only  frag- 
mentary if  the  Catholic  Church  were  excluded.  Without 
a  solid  scriptural  basis,  no  reunion  would  be  possible,  and 
he  held  that  this  was  to  be  found  only  in  the  recognition 
of  the  successor  of  Peter  as  the  visible  head  of  the  Church. 
Where,  he  asked,  could  the  head  for  which  some  of  the 
churches  of  the  world  were  looking  be  found  with  the 
standard  of  authority  that  would  suffice  except  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  *?  Terms  of  union  were  easier  of  solution 
than  was  commonly  supposed.  In  his  view  the  Catholic 
Church  held  to  all  the  positive  doctrines  of  the  Protes- 
tant churches,  and  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Pope's 
supremacy  would  make  the  way  clear  for  accepting  her 
other  doctrines.  Gibbons  pointed  out,  as  he  often  did  in 
such  communications,  that  many  doctrines  were  ascribed 
to  the  Church  which  she  repudiated  and  that  Protestants 
were  nearer  to  her  than  some  of  them  imagined. 

Sermons  on  Christian  reunion  were  delivered  from 
many  pulpits  in  America  as  the  movement  gathered  force 
and  Gibbons  preached  on  the  subject  at  the  Baltimore 
Cathedral,  November  4,  1894.  He  said  that  gladly 
would  he  give  his  life  to  bring  about  that  consummation, 
for  which  he  recognized  there  was  a  yearning  desire,  par- 

*  Letter  of  Cardinal  Gibbons  to  the  Rev.  Geo.  W.  King,  July  28,  1894. 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  577 

ticularly  in  the  English  speaking  world;  but  he  saw  no 
hope  for  a  reunion  except  within  the  fold  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  adding: 

"On  faith  and  morals  there  can  be  no  compromise; 
what  Christ  has  left  us  must  remain  unchangeable.  We 
can  not  improve  on  the  work  of  Christ;  but  the  Church 
can  modify  her  discipline  to  suit  the  circumstances  of  the 
times.  I  would  affectionately  say  to  all  who  desire  to 
share  in  the  inestimable  blessings  of  this  reunion,  that 
you  surrender  nothing  worth  possessing — not  your  liberty 
or  independence,  or  moral  freedom.  The  only  restraint 
placed  upon  you  is  the  restraint  of  the  Gospel.  In  com- 
ing back  to  the  Church,  you  are  not  entering  a  strange 
place,  but  are  returning  to  your  Father's  house.  The 
furniture  may  seem  odd  to  you,  but  it  is  just  the  same  as 
your  fathers  left  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago." 

Leo  summoned  Gibbons  to  Rome  in  the  autumn  of 
1894  for  his  first  visit  to  that  city  since  1887,  when  he 
had  received  the  red  hat.  He  sailed  in  the  following 
Spring,  reaching  Rome  May  31.  It  was  a  triumphant 
return,  for  he  bore  the  abundant  sheaves  of  a  harvest  of 
seven  years  in  which  the  toil  had  been  great,  the  outlook 
often  dismaying,  and  storms  had  been  endured  which 
had  threatened  to  blight  all.  Never  for  a  moment  dur- 
ing those  years  had  Leo  doubted  the  sure  touch  of  the 
master  reaper  in  America ;  but  the  extent  of  the  yield  had 
been  beyond  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  both  him- 
self and  Gibbons.  Leo's  policy  had  been  vindicated  in 
the  world  at  large  and  Gibbons'  policy  had  been  vindi- 
cated in  America.  The  appeal  to  the  hearts  of  men  was 
bearing  fruit,  though  the  appeal  to  rulers  and  govern- 


678  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

merits,  enforced  by  conditions  then  passing,  had  often 
been  barren. 

The  Pope  plainly  showed  his  joy  in  the  greeting  that 
he  gave  to  the  American  Cardinal.  It  was  as  if  he  were 
welcoming  his  other  self.  Though  Gibbons  spent  more 
than  a  month  in  Rome  and,  believing  his  mission  at  length 
ended,  went  to  pay  a  parting  visit  to  Leo,  the  Pontiff 
commanded  him  to  defer  his  departure,  so  that  they 
might  continue  their  consultations. 

Gibbons  warmly  praised  the  work  of  Satolli,  whose 
faithful  friend  and  defender  he  had  been  from  the  time 
when  the  Delegate  arrived  on  the  experimental  mission. 
This  gave  great  comfort  to  Leo,  for  Gibbons,  the  fore- 
most opponent  of  the  appointment  of  an  Apostolic  Dele- 
gate in  the  United  States,  had  been  the  foremost  upholder 
of  the  Delegate  when  appointed.  There  had  been  a  blend- 
ing of  views  on  the  subject.  Leo  had  arranged  Satolli's 
mission  so  that  Gibbons'  main  objections  had  been  met. 
Gibbons  recognized  this  with  that  full  generosity  which 
he  so  often  showed  and  which  could  not  fail  to  be  in 
evidence  in  his  relations  with  the  Pontiff  whom  he  loved 
and  revered  with  all  his  powerful  natural  impulse  of 
personal  attachment,  as  well  as  with  the  affection  which 
was  due  to  the  head  of  the  Church. 

Cardinal  Ledochowski,  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  re- 
flected the  attitude  of  the  Pope  in  the  attentions  which 
he  showered  upon  Gibbons.  It  was  Ledochowski  through 
whose  hands  had  passed  the  official  papers  of  Gibbons, 
in  which  the  astute  Papal  bureau  chief  had  been  able  to 
trace  the  surprising  development  of  the  Catholic  religion 
and  its  influence  in  America.    He  had  seen  in  these  re- 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  579 

ports  one  step  after  another  recorded  in  which  complica- 
tions had  been  smoothed  out,  discords  healed,  finances  put 
on  a  stable  basis,  dioceses  originated  or  developed.  The 
clergy  had  increased  greatly  in  numbers  and  even  more 
in  individual  standards.  Misunderstandings  in  the  pub- 
lic mind  had  been  prevented,  or  had  been  removed  after 
they  arose. 

Above  all,  Gibbons  in  his  reports  to  the  Vatican  had 
interpreted  the  progress  of  events  in  America  as  no  man 
had  interpreted  them  for  Rome  before,  concealing 
nothing,  seeing  clearly  and  fully,  describing  legislation 
and  public  men  with  accuracy  and  keen  perception,  an- 
alyzing movements,  tendencies  and  events  that  affected 
the  progress  of  religion.  Rome  was  seeing  America 
through  Gibbons'  eyes,  the  eyes  of  one  who  was  ready 
to  applaud  or  condemn  no  less  in  relation  to  movements 
within  the  Church  than  within  the  State  and  always  with 
a  deep  devotion  to  the  interests  of  both. 

America  was  now  understood  at  Rome;  all  doubt  on 
that  subject  had  been  removed.  Cardinals  from  Euro- 
pean countries  who  had  looked  askance  at  some  conditions 
in  the  United  States,  as  other  Europeans  of  light  and 
leading  did  in  their  day,  were  able  to  perceive  clearly 
what  had  been  obscure  to  them.  The  word  of  Gibbons 
was  powerful  at  the  seat  of  the  Church. 

Leo,  like  Gibbons,  was  deeply  interested  in  the  Catho- 
lic University  at  Washington.  They  discussed  intimate 
details  of  the  progress  which  had  been  made  so  far  in  that 
work,  which  heartened  both  of  them  as  an  augury  of 
greater  things  to  come.  Gibbons  presented  to  the  Pontiff 
a  program  for  the  philosophical  department  which  it  was 


580  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

hoped  soon  to  inaugurate  at  the  university.  He  also 
asked  for  a  Pontifical  brief  in  behalf  of  a  Eucharistic 
Congress  similar  to  those  previously  held  in  Europe,  which 
it  was  proposed  to  convoke  in  America.  On  June  29  the 
Pontiff  addressed  a  brief  to  him,  bestowing  hearty  ap- 
proval upon  the  plans  for  the  university  and  entering  with 
zeal  into  the  project  for  the  Eucharistic  Congress. 

He  found  Leo,  who  was  then  eighty-five  years  old, 
emaciated,  the  pallor  almost  of  death  upon  him  intensified 
by  his  white  cassock  and  zucchetto.  His  body  was  bent 
but  his  eye  was  bright  and  penetrating,  his  voice  strong, 
his  intellect  amazingly  clear.  One  thing  which  particu- 
larly astonished  Gibbons  was  Leo's  continued  power  of 
physical  endurance,  which  enabled  him  to  hold  audiences 
for  several  consecutive  hours  with  Cardinals  and  foreign 
representatives,  as  well  as  with  private  individuals, 
changing  with  ease  and  elasticity  of  mind  from  one  sub- 
ject to  another.  His  memory  was  extraordinarily  keen, 
and  he  was  able  to  recall  even  small  details  of  questions 
which  had  arisen  in  the  United  States,  especially  the 
archdiocese  of  Baltimore,  regarding  which  he  was  at  all 
times  particularly  solicitous. 

While  Gibbons  was  in  Rome  he  consented  without  hes- 
itation to  act  as  intermediary  for  some  American  Protes- 
tant ministers  in  a  communication  to  the  Vatican.  These 
ministers  had  associated  themselves  with  a  movement 
begun  by  Methodists  in  Chicago  in  1894  to  obtain  a 
modification  of  laws  regarding  public  worship  and  mar- 
riage in  Peru,  Bolivia  and  Ecuador.  They  decided  to 
appeal  directly  to  the  Pope  to  secure  for  Protestants  in 


6 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  581 

those  countries  "the  same  liberty  of  conscience  that  is 
enjoyed  by  Roman  Catholic  citizens  in  this  country." 

A  letter  was  sent  to  Gibbons  in  Rome  asking  for  his 
cooperation,  and  he  promptly  took  up  the  matter  with 
Cardinal  Rampolla,  the  Secretary  of  State.  In  a  reply 
to  the  chairman  of  the  Chicago  Methodist  committee 
he  incorporated  a  communication  to  himself  from  Ram- 
polla, setting  forth  that  the  complaint  had  reference  to 
a  state  of  things  "solely  dependent  upon  the  civil  laws  in 
force  in  the  republics  of  Peru,  Ecuador  and  Bolivia," 
adding: 

"Nevertheless,  as  your  Eminence  has  been  pleased  to 
communicate  to  me  the  said  letter,  I  have  written  to  the 
Apostolic  Delegate  in  the  above-named  republics  to 
obtain  precise  information  concerning  the  laws  which 
affect  the  condition  of  the  Protestants  there,  as  regards 
both  the  exercise  of  their  religion  and  the  celebration  of 
marriage." 

The  Secretary  of  State  gave  the  assurance  that  he 
would  "call  the  attention  of  the  Holy  See  to  the  infor- 
mation which  the  aforesaid  Delegate  would  send." 

When  these  inquiries  had  been  completed,  Rampolla 
wrote  to  Gibbons,  setting  forth  their  result  as  follows: 

"The  Protestants  in  Peru,  far  from  being  restricted  in 
the  free  exercise  of  their  worship,  are  rather  accorded  a 
larger  degree  of  toleration  than  is  compatible  with  a 
strict  construction  of  the  political  constitution  of  that 
country.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  in  Peru,  es- 
pecially in  the  cities  of  Lima  and  Callao,  there  are  sev- 

•  Letter  of  Cardinal  Gibbons  to  the  Rer.  John  Lee,  of  Chicago,  June 
14,  1895. 


582  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

eral  Anglican  and  Methodist  chapels  where  weekly  meet- 
ings are  held.  As  to  the  solemnization  of  marriages,  the 
Delegate  informs  me  that,  while  the  constitution  of  Peru 
recognizes  no  other  form  than  that  prescribed  by  the 
Council  of  Trent,  Protestants  do,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  wed 
with  religious  ceremony  in  the  presence  of  their  ministers, 
and  civilly  before  the  consuls  and  ambassadors  of  their 
respective  countries.  The  same  condition  of  things  rela- 
tive to  marriage  exists  in  Bolivia  and  Ecuador,  where  the 
exercise  of  religious  worship  is  regulated  by  special  con- 
stitutional enactments,  with  which  the  Holy  See  cannot 
interfere."  ® 

Gibbons  returned  to  Baltimore  in  August,  where  one 
of  the  city's  public  welcomes  awaited  him.  There  was, 
as  usual,  a  great  crowd  at  the  railroad  station  which  es- 
corted him  to  his  residence.  A  reception  was  given  in  his 
honor  by  the  Catholic  Club,  at  which  stress  was  laid  upon 
the  continuance  of  his  efforts  to  break  down  the  impres- 
sion that  the  Church  was  in  any  way  alien  to  American 
institutions.  Edgar  H.  Gans,  a  distinguished  lawyer  of 
the  city,  delivered  the  address  of  welcome,  saying: 

"Not  many  years  ago  the  view  was  prevalent  that  the 
Catholic  Church  was  of  foreign  growth,  was  not  adapted 
to  modem  American  life,  and  indeed  that  its  teachings 
were  hostile  to  our  free  institutions.  This  prejudice  be- 
came powerful  and  widespread.  It  would  not  yield  to 
the  ordinary  weapons  of  logic  and  reason.  There  was 
needed  a  living  illustration  of  its  absurdity.  That  illus- 
tration was  found  in  your  Eminence.  In  you  the  Ameri- 
can people  see  the  highest  spiritual  authority  absolutely 
consistent  with  the  civic  allegiance  of  the  patriotic  citi- 


„ >> 

zen. 


*  Letter  of  November  30,  1895. 


COLUMBIAN  FETES  583 

With  that  deep  simplicity  which  always  possessed  him, 
and  which  was  in  special  evidence  upon  occasions  when 
he  was  powerfully  moved,  Gibbons  spoke  in  an  informal, 
neighborly  way  of  his  delight  in  returning  to  his  home 
city. 

"Would  that  I  could  deserve  one  half  the  praise  show- 
ered upon  me,"  he  exclaimed.  "I  often  ask  the  good  Lord 
what  I  have  done  that  I  should  receive  so  much  praise."  ^ 

As  was  usual  after  his  European  trips,  he  preached  soon 
afterward  at  the  Cathedral  upon  his  impressions.  He 
spoke  of  the  sadness  with  which  he  had  observed  the 
civil  authorities  of  France,  and  some  other  Catholic  na- 
tions of  Europe,  drifting  away  from  religious  ties.  There 
were  other  contrasts  with  America  upon  which  he  re- 
marked, one  of  which  was  in  regard  to  the  burdensome 
taxation  of  Europe,  from  which  his  fellow-countrymen 
were  spared.  He  found  that  the  agricultural  populations 
there  were  not  flocking  to  the  cities  in  such  an  endless 
stream  as  in  America.  While  he  declared  that  he  would 
by  no  means  discourage  ambition,  he  regarded  discontent 
with  an  honorable,  though  humble,  station  in  life,  as  a 
serious  fault  of  many  of  his  fellow-countrymen. 

The  Eucharistic  Congress  for  which  he  had  received 
the  Pontifical  approval  was  held  in  Washington  in  Oc- 
tober of  the  same  year.  In  that  month  also  the  new 
course  of  philosophy  at  the  Catholic  University  was  in- 
stituted with  the  dedication  of  McMahon  Hall,  erected 
at  a  cost  of  $400,000  by  the  gift  of  the  Rev.  James  M. 
McMahon,  an  aged  priest  of  the  diocese  of  New  York. 
Gibbons  made  an  address  at  the  dedication  exhorting  the 

^Catholic  Mirror,  August  31,  1895. 


584  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

laity,  no  less  than  the  clergy,  to  lend  their  support  to 
the  university  in  the  steady  development  which  he  con- 
sidered to  be  inseparable  from  its  healthful  activity  as 
the  fountain  of  Catholic  education  in  the  United  States.) 


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